


As If It's Your Last

by half_rice



Series: You're My 20s [2]
Category: PRISTIN (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, M/M, basically they're every college student ever??, broke gay nayoung, for gays, good older brother jeonghan, its a hard knock life, messy gay jisoo, more kids!!, struggling college student seungcheol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-01-06 02:03:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12201693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/half_rice/pseuds/half_rice
Summary: A sequel toSummer Go!It’s been three months since summer camp, and everyone’s back in university, which is the opposite of a Happily Ever After. Seungcheol still hasn’t seen Jeonghan or his number again, Jeonghan’s broke ass is working at a depressing after-school tutoring center, Nayoung’s trying to live a good life despite being thrown out of the house, and Jisoo’s trying to get laid.Grindr comes to save the day.I'M BLATANTLY PUSHING THE GAY ASIAN AGENDA HERE, NO SHAME





	1. Signeul Bonae Signal Bonae

**Author's Note:**

> (As in the 1st fic, everyone 95 line up is an adult, everyone 96 line down is a child EXCEPT Pinky who is not the same as the Kyulkyung in the first fic. Pinky is an adult)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEONGHAN!!! I love Jeonghan so much so naturally im going 2 make him suffer

_Jeonghan rests his head on Seungcheol’s bicep. He’s wanted to do that for the past three weeks._

_It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. His neck hurts because Seungcheol’s arms are too thick, and he’s used to sleeping with a really soft pillow. His back also hurts, because he’s not used to lying on top of picnic tables. Oh well._

_“What time are you guys leaving tomorrow?”_

_Why did he have to bring that up? Jeonghan slides an arm around Seungcheol’s chest. “Early. According to the schedule we have to be back by 2.”_

_“How early?”_

_“Probably right after breakfast.”_

_“Okay.” Seungcheol rolls onto his side, pulling Jeonghan closer to him. “Then I have you until breakfast.”_

_“Um, no, I have to sleep because I have to drive- You have to drive too, idiot.” Jeonghan slides his hand down Seungcheol’s back._

_“I’m not an idiot.”_

_“It’s a term of endearment. You’re my idiot.” Jeonghan closes the gap between them, sucking gently on Seungcheol’s lower lip._

_Jeonghan thinks Seungcheol’s moaning, but the sounds the latter is making get more urgent so Jeonghan lets his mouth go._

_“I think I got a splinter in my hand.” Seungcheol says, reaching for his flashlight._

_Sure enough, there’s a splinter the size of a toothpick sticking out of Seungcheol’s left hand, and a thick trail of blood oozing out around it. Seungcheol’s face goes pale._

_“Let me get my first aid kit.” Jeonghan slides off the table, but Seungcheol grabs him by the waist._

_“Wait, don’t leave me.”_

_Jeonghan rolls his eyes, brushing Seungcheol’s hands off. “Don’t get blood on my shorts.”_

“Oppa.”

_“Okay one, two, three...” Jeonghan tugs the splinter– no, small stick out in one swift motion, throwing it into the grass behind him. He wipes the blood away as gently as he can, then dabs some disinfectant on the wound, watching Seungcheol’s face as he does._

_“Can I look now? Is the blood gone?”_

_“No.” Jeonghan dabs the disinfectant harder. Seungcheol doesn’t even flinch. He doesn’t get hurt or sick, but he looks ready to faint at the sight of blood. Ridiculous._

_“Can I look now?”_

_Jeonghan presses a pink band-aid with a beagle pattern onto Seungcheol’s hand, letting his rest over it for longer than he needed to. “Okay, you can look now, you big baby.”_

_Seungcheol takes a quick peek with one eye open, one eye shut._

“Oppa, wake up.”

_Jeonghan’s in Seungcheol’s lap, straddling his thighs as Seungcheol leaves slobbery kisses on his neck._

_“It’s nearly 4 am, we should-” Jeonghan’s knees tighten around Seungcheol’s waist. He didn’t like people kissing him under the ear until Seungcheol did it. “-stop.”_

_“Okay.” Seungcheol leans back against the table, resting on his palms. “Wait, did you mean stop this and go to sleep or stop this and do something else that’s like, less heavy or do you want something more hea-”_

_“Heavier.” Jeonghan pushes Seungcheol back onto the table, climbing on top of him._

 “Jeonghan-oppa.”

Jeonghan sits up, wiping his mouth with his jacket sleeve instinctively.

“You fell asleep again.” Tzuyu whispers. Jeonghan looks around to see if anyone else has noticed, but the other girls in the room are still looking down at their homework or aimlessly out the window.

“Sorry.”

“What time did you sleep last night?”

“I don’t know. I finished studying then passed out.” Jeonghan tries to stretch as surreptitiously as he can. “Need any help with your homework?”

“Nope.”

“Oppa?” Someone taps Jeonghan on the shoulder. He turns to find a little girl with big, droopy eyes staring at him hopelessly. It’s his favorite tutee, Jihyo. Well, his favorite not-related-to-him-by-blood tutee. “I don’t get this.”

Jeonghan takes the sheaf of papers she’s holding out. Algebra? Jihyo’s nine years old, what’s she doing with algebra? “What don’t you get?”

“Everything.”

_

“See you tomorrow, Jisoo!”

“See ya,” Jisoo waves at his classmates, who are going out for a few drinks. He can’t. He’s got to collect Seungcheol, who’s been standing at the bottom of the steps to his college for god alone knows how long.

Seungcheol gives him a weak smile, which is Seungcheol shorthand for Something Is Terribly Wrong. Seungcheol’s smiles are only 100% or 200%. The last time he was this half-assed about smiling was when the camp management let them know that the kids’ parents had the camp shut down. Someone must’ve told their parents that the girls weren’t entirely segregated from the boys, and the parents must’ve been scandalized. Jisoo knows his mom would’ve made an angry call if he’d been one of the kids.

“Let’s go?” Seungcheol asks, with that sort-of-smile. They walk towards their boarding house is mostly silence, because the street is full of cars at rush hour.

“What’s wrong?” Jisoo goes.

“I’m failing Anatomy.” Seungcheol sighs. “Again.”

“Is this the same professor? What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing’s wrong with her.”

Jisoo stops mid-step. “Do I need to file a complaint-”

“It’s not the professor, Jisoo, it’s me.” Seungcheol says. “I’m the one who’s failing.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t been doing anything wrong, I’ve been watching you study for weeks. You hardly even study for your other classes anymore it’s all just anatomy!”

“Yeah, I’m probably failing those too. Ha ha.”

“Cheol…”

Seungcheol puts an arm around Jisoo’s shoulders, to the disgust of a girl who’s walking the opposite direction on the sidewalk. He leans his head against Jisoo’s, making it more difficult for Jisoo to walk straight. More difficult for Jisoo to anything straight.

“Do you need help?” Jisoo asks.

“No, it’s ok.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Drop out and get a job, probably.”

“ _Cheol_ ,” Jisoo snaps. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not joking.” Seungcheol’s blinking back tears so hard Jisoo can almost hear it. Jisoo is so, so, so tempted to kiss him.

Jisoo sighs and presses his forehead against Seungcheol’s fluffy hair. He needs to get laid soon, or he’s going to accidentally jump his straight best friend. Then he’s gonna be That Gay Guy Who Makes All The Others Look Bad.

_

Jeonghan unlocks the door to their apartment and flicks all the lights on. It’s an hour after their usual dinnertime, because it took that long to get Jihyo to understand enough algebra to get a just-passing grade.

“Go wash up,” Jeonghan tells Tzuyu, who makes a face because she was already on her way to the bathroom and didn’t need to be told.

Jeonghan pulls his phone out as he heats up some rice and beef in the microwave.

He has exactly one message from Nayoung: _Jeonghannie~ I miss you <3 <3 <3 Let’s hang out sometime ;) ;) ;) _ _Don’t study too hard or u’ll get wrinkles <3 <3_

It’s from Nayoung’s girlfriend, then.

Jeonghan checks to see that Tzuyu’s in the bathroom when he opens up the app that keeps landing him dates with slimy predators who are interested in little other than sending him photos of their sad little dicks. He runs through today’s list of mediocre-looking no-lifes.

Jeonghan frowns at his phone. He taps through to load the photo better.

“Oppa!”

He pockets his phone as Tzuyu leans out of the bathroom door. Her face is covered in suds as she goes, “There’s no water!”

Jeonghan slaps himself in the forehead. “I forgot to pay the water bill. Shit.”

“Shit yourself.” Tzuyu goes out and grabs a pitcher of water from the refrigerator to wash her face with.

“Don’t use that word.” Jeonghan hisses.

“ _Don’t use that word_.” Tzuyu mocks him.

 

Jeonghan’s sitting at the kitchen table, rereading a chapter in his textbook until he almost memorizes it but understands nothing. He pulls his phone out to check the time, and when he opens the screen it’s still on that photo.

He zooms in and out, like it’s gonna change something. But no, that photo is undeniably the one Jisoo of the one million cute fuckboy Jisoos that he cares about. This Jisoo probably knows where Seungcheol is, and if he’s still interested in Jeonghan’s desperate ass.

 _Hey,_ Jeonghan types, cringing at himself. _Remember me?_


	2. JEONGHAN DID IT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I JUST WATCHED SVT LIVE LAST FRIDAY AND LEMME JUST SAY, JEONGCHEOL IS SO REAL JEONGCHEOL IS SO SO SO REAL
> 
> Anyway, back to fictional Jeongcheol's problems

“Tell your oppa he’s an idiot,” Nayoung says, looking at Tzuyu through the rearview mirror.

“He knows that already.” Tzuyu says. “Can I have a burger?”

“No, we’re dropping Nayoung-eonnie off at her house then going to the tutoring center.” Jeonghan says, swerving right onto a street he’d missed.

“And then Jeonghan-oppa’s going on a date with-”

“Hey.” Jeonghan snaps.

Nayoung’s eyes widen into circles. “Oh. Does she not know you’re g-a-y?”

“Eonnie, I can spell.” Tzuyu rolls her eyes, and Nayoung realizes just how much the kid looks like Jeonghan. “And I know oppa dates boys. They’re usually bad guys though.”

The judgment thrown in Jeonghan’s direction is so heavy he feels it knock into the side of his head like a brick.

“The guy I’m going out with later isn’t a bad guy,” Jeonghan comes to his own defense. “He’s actually a really great guy.”

“He’s the _wrong_ guy.” Nayoung mutters.

Tzuyu nods. “Then who’s the right guy?”

“Don’t poison her mind, Nayoung.” Jeonghan turns the car. “Jisoo’s a nice guy, and I’m going out on a date with him and no one’s gonna stop me.”

Nayoung lifts her eyebrows. “No one’s stopping you.”

“Yeah.” Tzuyu agrees.

 

Tzuyu watches with detached interest as Chaeyoung asks Jeonghan how to spell “conversation.” Then Mina asks for help with her science homework, and Dahyun starts asking one question after another about Mina’s homework before finally asking about her own science homework.

Jeonghan’s checked his watch five times in the last two minutes.

“But how come when you cover plants they don’t die?” Dahyun asks.

“They don’t need the sun all the time, they can live without it.” Jeonghan checks his watch again.

“But are they sad?” Dahyun asks.

“How do you spell “detrimental”?” Chaeyoung asks, waving her pencil in the air so Jeonghan notices her.

“Uh, D-e-t-r-i…mental.” Jeonghan says. “What were you saying, Dahyun?”

“Do the plants get sad without the sun?”

“No, I don’t think they do.” Jeonghan says. “The plants do fine without the sun for some time, but they’ll die if it goes away for a long time.”

Dahyun pouts. She’s starting to cry, and Tzuyu can only roll her eyes.

“Dahyun, don’t cry,” Jeonghan sighs, reaching into Tzuyu’s bag for a tissue. “Please don’t cry about _plants_.”

Jeonghan puts a hand gingerly on Dahyun’s back, patting it as the little girl sobs like her dog just died.

“Jeonghan-oppa?”

“Yes, Jihyo?”

“Can you help me with my math homework please?”

Jeonghan’s about to say no, he and Tzuyu have to leave soon, but he catches Jihyo’s puppy dog eyes.

“Okay.” Jeonghan gives up and lets Jihyo excitedly drag a chair up to sit next to him. She dumps a stack of unanswered math homework on the table before them.

“Thank you so much oppa!”

 

Jisoo’s tapping his feet to the bland pop music in the restaurant, watching the people on the other tables come and go. Maybe, he’s thinking, maybe it’s the universe trying to tell him something. He shouldn’t be going on a date with another unfortunate gay guy who wants Seungcheol. Maybe they could start a support circle.

“Hey. It’s me, Jeonghan.”

Jisoo looks up and find that Jeonghan’s cut hair close behind his ears and bleached it a harsh platinum. Jisoo knows it’s not likely, but Jeonghan seems taller, with broader shoulders tugging at the seams of his dryer-shrunken sweater. The waitress is also staring as she gently lowers the menu onto their table, promising them she’ll be back.

“So, what have you been up to?” Jisoo asks, pocketing his phone.

Jeonghan narrows his eyes. They’re so pretty. “Are you lowkey asking why I’m late?”

“No, I-” Jisoo laughs. “I’m sure you have a good reason, cause if you don’t I’m walking out of here.”

“I had to work late and bring my sister home…I work at an after-school tutoring place.” Jeonghan’s smile almost crinkles the corners of his eyes. Jisoo’s in trouble.

“You must really like kids, huh?”

“You know, I actually don’t.” Jeonghan says. “I just need the money, and can’t seem to find other jobs.”

“What about your sister?”  

“I love my sister, but I don’t _like_ her.” Jeonghan smiles at the waitress, who blushes and tucks her hair behind one ear.

“Are you guys ready to order?” She asks, flashing a smile full of braces.

“What do you want, Jisoo?” Jeonghan turns to him, lifting his eyebrows.

“I, uh, I’ll eat anything.” Jisoo says, his brain short-circuiting.

 

“How’s university, Seungcheol-ah?” His mom asks, passing him the plate of grilled beef. “Beef?”

“Thanks. School’s ok.” Seungcheol lies.

“Okay.” She takes a bite of rice, then takes a sip of tea. “Then why did you come home?”

Seungcheol tries not to choke on his beef. “Pardon?”

“You only come home when there’s a problem, like last semester when you were failing Anatomy.” His mom says. “What’s wrong now?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to see you.” Seungcheol flashes her his cutest smile.

Their utensils clack against their plates and bowls for a solid five minutes before she asks, “More rice, Seungcheol-ah?”

“Thanks.”

“You always pull your mouth like that when you lie, Seungcheol-ah.” His mother says, scooping rice aggressively into Seungcheol’s bowl. She taps the rice serving spoon on the bowl so hard Seungcheol’s sure everyone in the entire province can hear it. “Are you failing any classes?”

“The semester’s not over yet, Eom-”

“How many?”

Seungcheol gives up. “Just Anatomy.”

“Again? What’s wrong with your professor? Do you need me to talk to her?”

“No, please.”

His mother takes a sip of tea. “Your father doesn’t want me to tell you this, but we don’t have a lot of money right now. We can’t afford for you to repeat any more classes.”

“I know.” Seungcheol pushes a strip of beef back and forth on his plate. It was nearly ten in the evening, and his dad was still out there trying to scrape up as much overtime pay as he could.

“More beef, Seungcheol-ah?”

 

Lots of things are going on inside Jeonghan’s head.

First, he’s wondering whether Tzuyu’s doing okay – he’d left her at their next-door neighbor’s, promising to be back home from his “study group” by midnight at the latest. He’s sure it’s past midnight, and he’s nowhere near fetching Tzuyu from Mrs. Park’s place.

Second, he’s wondering what time he’s actually gonna leave because his car’s currently parked in a no parking, tow-away zone. He’d spent three years’ worth of savings plus his entire pay from the summer camp to buy that secondhand Nissan, and he had nothing left to bail it out if it got towed.

Third, he’s wondering if he’s a bad person or not. He dumped his sister with their neighbor for an entire evening and hasn’t picked her up, illegally parked his car, and fucked his crush’s best friend in a failed attempt to get said crush’s number.

“Do you need to go home soon?” Jisoo asks. He can’t see Jeonghan, because they’ve left all the lights in his room off, but he must’ve felt Jeonghan shifting uneasily in his bed. “Is Tzuyu alone?”

“No.” Jeonghan says.

Jisoo turns to face him, squinting in the very dim streetlight coming in through the windows. “No you don’t need to go home soon or no your sister’s not alone?”

“Both.” Jeonghan leans forward on his pillow, and Jisoo tilts his head up to kiss him immediately. Jeonghan wasn’t used to being with guys who could take a hint. He was used to oafish “straight” dudes who wouldn’t know when to kiss him even if it hit them in the face.

“Okay, good.” Jisoo wraps his arms around Jeonghan, pressing their noses together.

Jeonghan plucks Jisoo’s clammy hands off his bare back. “Don’t stick to me, you’re sweaty.”

“So are you.” Jisoo snaps back, pulling away.

“Someone’s touchy.” Jeonghan says, laughing.

“You think _that’s_ touchy?” Jisoo, sweaty hands be damned, pins Jeonghan down.

Jeonghan knows he should probably get himself out of this before he’s in too deep – no pun intended. But there’s knowing what he should do, and then there’s actually doing the right thing.

He doesn’t.

 

Tzuyu hears the locks on the front door being undone, and rubs her eyes. She crawls carefully out of her makeshift bed on the floor, careful not to wake the girl sleeping a foot away.

“…Sorry I’m so late, this won’t happen again, I promise.” She hears her brother say in a frantic whisper.

“It’s okay, Tzuyu’s really no trouble. Jihyo likes having a little sister.”

Tzuyu opens the door a crack, finding her brother standing in the doorway to Mrs. Park’s apartment, his shoes still on.

“You’re still awake?” Mrs. Park asks.

“No, I woke up when he opened the door.”

“Sorry.” Jeonghan says. His voice is too quiet. “C’mon Tzuyu, let’s go home.”

Tzuyu sits at the kitchen stool, watching her brother lock the door.

“Go to sleep, you can take a shower tomorrow.” He says.

Tzuyu stays put. “What happened, oppa?”

“Nothing.” Jeonghan says.

But when he throws his coat onto the kitchen counter, his sweater is too small, and not because Jeonghan’s always throwing everything into the dryer without looking. It isn’t even Jeonghan’s sweater.

Tzuyu frowns.

 

_“You’re wasting your time.”_

_Seungcheol blushes. He and Jeonghan are on morning dishwashing duty, which, because of the forty kids in camp, takes two people a whole hour. The past five minutes have just been Seungcheol trying to scrub rice off the sides of a large pot, and Jeonghan side-eyeing him as he rinses plates._

_“Don’t you do the dishes at home?” Jeonghan grabs the pot from him._

_“My mom does all the dishes.”_

_“How old are you, 20?” Jeonghan asks, filling the pot with soapy water._

_“Yeah.” Seungcheol wants to dig a hole and hide in it._

_Jeonghan grumbles and goes back to scrubbing bits of burnt meat off a pan. He’s bent over, his hair sliding off his shoulders as he grumbles some more to himself._

_It’s the prettiest thing Seungcheol’s ever seen._

_“Make yourself useful and rinse these.” Jeonghan practically shoves a pile of tin mugs at him._

_“Okay.” Seungcheol says._

_“Who the fuck even cooked on- What are you doing?” Jeonghan looks up at Seungcheol, who’s holding Jeonghan’s bangs. Seungcheol draws his hand away suddenly._

_“Your hair was getting in the water.” He says._

_“Don’t worry, it’s clean.” Jeonghan snaps, taking a hair tie off his wrist and pulling his hair into a short ponytail._

_“That’s not what I meant.” Seungcheol says._

Seungcheol wakes up. The bus driver is telling him to get off. They’re at the end of his route, and he wants to go home. Seungcheol’s missed his stop, but he feels like walking anyway.

It’s not a hot night, but he’s sweaty by the time the owner of the boarding house opens the door.

“Did you _walk_ here?” Jonghyun asks, leaning out the door to look for a taxi or a car or anything.

“Yeah. Missed my bus stop.” Seungcheol shrugs. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“I wasn’t sleeping yet, it’s cool.” Jonghyun locks the door behind Seungcheol.

Seungcheol goes into the kitchen and pours himself a glass of milk.

“Just leave the glass in the sink, I’ll wash it tomorrow.” Jonghyun calls, as he closes his bedroom door.

Seungcheol had left his house so his mom wouldn’t be hanging over him all the time, just to end up with Jonghyun hanging over him all the time. And Jisoo.

 

“Jisoo?”

“Yeah?” Jisoo had been on his phone, waiting to see if Jeonghan _would_ text him when he got home. He’d gotten up and washed himself off, but then got too lazy to put clothes on, so he’s currently tucked under a comforter, butt naked.

Seungcheol probably notices. “Oh. Do you have someone over?”

“N- Not anymore.” Jisoo sounds guilty. He knows it. He reaches for a shirt and a pair of shorts on his desk. “What’s up?”

“Can we talk?”

Jisoo flicks the light on. Which was a mistake. Seungcheol’s big, droopy puppy eyes are begging him for attention. Jisoo sighs and pats the bed next to him. “Sure.”

“What’s wrong?” Jisoo asks.

“Everything.” Seungcheol flops onto the bed facefirst with a heavy thud.

“You’re going to be all right.” Jisoo pats Seungcheol’s hair gently, dragging his eyes away from the curve of Seungcheol’s back into his amazing ass. It’s taking every ounce of strength in Jisoo’s body to keep himself from accidentally fucking someone else tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jisoo's really weak but who can blame him


	3. GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY LOVE ME akshdkdflf; i love dank Got7 #Stream Got7 You Are but not on Spotify because JYPE's a biTCH
> 
> It's Nayoung time!! Plus some fresh sweet Twice Japan line cameos, because who doesn't love Twice Japan line <3

Nayoung cracks an egg into a nonstick ceramic pan. The pan is probably more expensive than her entire salary as a summer camp counselor. She scrambles the egg with wooden chopsticks probably more expensive than her whole life. They’re antiques.

She throws the scrambled egg onto an expensive plate, and sets it down on the expensive glass table with a 180-degree view of the city. Beside it are fried spam on an expensive plate, fried rice in an expensive bowl, and two expensive settings before two expensive chairs.

She’s going to go insane if she has to deal with any more expensive-

“Morning, baby,” Her expensive girlfriend purrs, hugging Nayoung from behind.

“Put some clothes on, the entire city can see you.” Nayoung gestures at the floor-to-ceiling windows in front of them.

“Oh please, we’re on the 40th floor. Nobody can see us.” Her girlfriend leaves a small bite on Nayoung’s shoulder before leaving Nayoung’s back cold again.

“I made breakfast.” Nayoung says, pulling a chair back for her girlfriend.

“You don’t have to. We can just order food.” Said girlfriend says, plopping onto the chair in nothing but a pair of white gold earrings.

“Put something on before you eat.” Nayoung says.

“Aw, is my baby grumpy?” Her girlfriend leaps up and crosses the table to hug Nayoung. “What’s got my baby so grumpy?”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“You’re grumpy.” Her girlfriend pokes at Nayoung’s frown.

Nayoung shakes the fingers off her face.

“Come on, baby, is something wrong?”

“You want the truth?”

“Of course.”

Nayoung sighs. “I can’t live here anymore.”

Her girlfriend stops breathing for a second, then hiccups, then starts crying. “Is it me?”

“No, Pinky, it’s not you.” Nayoung brushes her girlfriend’s cotton candy pink hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ears. She presses a kiss on the little space between her girlfriend’s eyebrows. “But I can’t live- You know what, I’m a fucking squatter here. I don’t pay rent, I don’t actually own anything here, I’m just…here. I know you’re okay with that, but I’m not.”

Her girlfriend hiccups. “You can stay here as long as you need to.”

“Also, I hate this place. This apartment’s too fucking big and everything’s so expensive-”

“Why do you hate expensive things?”

“I don’t hate expensive things, they just make me feel uncomfortable.” Nayoung knows she doesn’t sound good, but there’s no other way to put things. She loves Pinky, but her sanity comes first.

“Where will you go?” Pinky’s stopped crying, but her eyes are watery, so Nayoung avoids saying ‘I don’t know’ even if that’s the truth.

“I’ll crash on Jeonghan’s couch.”

“But their apartment’s so tiny- I mean, no offense, but there are already two of them fighting over the bathroom.”

“Last summer I shared a bathroom with like twenty kids.”

Pinky makes a face. Nayoung kisses it.

“Don’t worry,” Nayoung says. “I’ll still come here and sleep with you if you can’t sleep.”

“I have insomnia. I can’t sleep. Ever.” Pinky says, with a straight face.

Nayoung shoves her off her lap. “God, you’re so clingy. Hurry up and eat breakfast, I don’t wanna be late for my first class again.”

 

Jeonghan hands Jisoo a soft serve cone.

“So you have to go to the parent-teacher stuff for Tzuyu?” Jisoo asks. “Do the teachers swoon over Tzuyu’s fake dad?”

“Who the fuck swoons in this day and age?” Jeonghan asks, licking ice cream off his fingers.

Jisoo tries to flush out all unclean thoughts from his mind, but it’s like someone’s thrown a whole roll of tissue paper into his brain.

“Honestly, I just go to the PTCs cause Tzuyu’s PE teacher is really hot,” Jeonghan says suddenly, his mind also a filthy mess.

“How hot?”

“His ass is perfect, and he’s always wearing these sweatpants so you can see...I’m having a bit of trouble with the lab class, but the lecture class is really easy,” Jeonghan says suddenly, censoring himself as a few kids ride by on their bikes. He and Jisoo are enjoying a Saturday afternoon at a park, like an ordinary gay couple, watching Tzuyu attempt to do a 360 on the swing.

“Sounds yummy.” Jisoo licks his soft serve.

Jeonghan laughs. “Yeah, he is.”

“Are you serious?”

“Is it bad fifth date etiquette to admit you’ve slept with your sister’s PE teacher?” Jeonghan asks, but he doesn’t care.

“I don’t know.” Jisoo says. “Should I be jealous?”

“Nah. He’s getting married to his girlfriend of eight or nine years.”

“That sucks.” Jisoo bites into his cone.

“I’m used to it. I’m a straight guy magnet.” Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “Even after I cut my hair, they still get confused.”

Jisoo can’t really blame them, but at the same time he totally can. Jeonghan’s pretty, but he’s also pretty well-built. Definitely not as stacked as Seungcheol, but why is he thinking about Seungcheol when he’s out on a date with someone else?

“Speaking of straight,” Jeonghan’s reading Jisoo’s mind now. Definitely. “Have you heard from Seungcheol lately?”

 

Seungcheol’s brain is wrinkled beyond belief.

He’s been staring at this one diagram of the muscles in the hand – not the whole arm, _just_ the hand – for nearly an hour. He’s stared at this drawing of a hand so much that his own hand is starting to look strange to him, like it’s got six fingers or something.

“Seungcheol?”

He looks up. A girl with a button nose and cute bunny teeth is smiling at him. She’s vaguely familiar, and Seungcheol’s probably got his face as wrinkled as his brain so she adds, “I’m Nayeon? From your Anatomy class?”

“Ah, Nayeon, yeah…” Seungcheol nods, hoping he looks convincing.

“Can I sit here?” She asks, taking a seat next to him before he can reply. “Are you studying for the exam next week?”

“Yeah.” Seungcheol says. “I’m trying.”

“Oh okay. Me too.” She beams.

Her smile is so cute, Seungcheol forgets about the stupid hand muscles. Again. Not that he’s memorized enough of them to feel bad about forgetting them.

 

“Tzuyu says you have a boyfriend.” Sana, one of the fourth graders in the tutoring center, asks Jeonghan one day.

“Is that true?” Another fourth grader, Momo, adds.

Jeonghan looks at Tzuyu, who’s engrossed in her English homework like she hadn’t heard.

There are two ways he can go about this: He could deny everything and make Tzuyu look like an attention-seeking liar, or he could just tell the truth and risk the girls telling their parents, and their parents telling the owner of the tutoring center, and Jeonghan losing his job.

“He’s not my boyfriend, but we’ve gone on a couple of dates.” Jeonghan says. It won’t be the first time he loses his job for being a ‘bad influence,’ anyway.

Sana and Momo nod slowly. Jeonghan knows they won’t leave it at that, but he hopes they do.

“What kind of dates do you go on?” Momo asks.

“Well, on our first date we went out for dinner at his favorite restaurant,” And then we had crazy, floor-shaking sex to burn off the calories, Jeonghan leaves out. “And aside from that we’ve gone to a pet café, the park, the movies…”

“Oh, so they’re like normal boy-girl dates?” Sana asks.

“I guess you could say that.” Jeonghan says, with a grimace. “Do you need any help with your homework?”

“No thanks, maybe later.” Sana says, looking back down at her math notebook, but she’s obviously not thinking about math.

Jeonghan turns back to Mina, who’s writing a persuasive speech to include video games in PE classes. He doesn’t disagree, and it’s amusing how _into_ it Mina is. He now knows exactly what Mina does once she gets home from the tutoring center.

“I read somewhere that gamers make better surgeons,” Mina says. “So it would be like science and PE in one class, right?”

“Not exactly, but you _can_ list all of the skills you get from video games, like better hand-eye coordination that surgeons benefit from, and um, strategy and teamwork?”

“Okay.” Mina purses her lips in concentration as she erases a few sentences from her draft.

Jeonghan leans back in his chair, checking his watch.

“Is he cute?” Sana asks.

“What?” Jeonghan asks.

“Is your boyfriend cute?” Sana rephrases herself.

“He’s not his boyfriend yet, they’re just dating.” Momo corrects her.

“But is he cute?”

“Yeah, he’s really cute. Good enough to be an idol.” Jeonghan says, and he’s not overselling Jisoo.

Sana and Momo nod faster now.

“Do you love him?” Sana asks.

“He’s not even his boyfriend yet, Sana, of course he doesn’t love him yet, right, oppa?” Momo looks at Jeonghan, her eyes widened into saucers.

“I guess you could say that. I do like him a lot, though.” Jeonghan says, surprising himself with the truth.

Mina ends her paragraph with a period and looks up at Jeonghan. “How long does it take for you to love someone?”

He didn’t sign up for this shit.

“It depends.” Jeonghan says. “Some people say they can fall in love in one day, but I don’t believe in that.”

He’s lying.

_

Jisoo gives up, and shuts his laptop. It’s only 10:30 in the evening, but Jisoo’s wrung his brain dry. Fuck his exam. He looks to his left to find Seungcheol with his eyes shut, but he’s reciting a list of Latin-sounding terms over and over again.

Jisoo writes a note on a post-it that he’s going home ahead, and presses it on top of Seungcheol’s Anatomy textbook, which is haphazardly painted in four different shades of highlighter.

Seungcheol opens his eyes a peep, reads the note, and waves at Jisoo before going back to his weird medical terms.

Jisoo runs a hand through his hair, taking in the late autumn breeze. It would’ve been easy to say that Seungcheol’s busy, because he is. ‘Seungcheol’s trying not to flunk out of college.’ Eight words. Not difficult.

It was the other Saturday that they were walking in the park. Jisoo liked the feeling of having someone to walk in the park on weekends with, to hold hands with, to make out with – and the fact that it was Jeonghan, who was hands down the most beautiful man on earth, wasn’t bad. Jisoo was afraid that he might’ve been leading Jeonghan on a bit, because he wasn’t as invested in the other guy as he was invested in feeling good about himself.

And then he saw Jeonghan’s face change as Jeonghan asked, “Have you heard from Seungcheol lately?”

“No.” Jisoo had said, not really knowing why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SINDI DON'T FITE ME I LOVE SNAKESOO


	4. This Was Bound To Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS LATE I KNOW!! :(( i was at work till 1am and there was no wifi yesterday, sorry everyone

Seungcheol feels pretty good about himself as he walks into the room for his exam. He and Nayeon review a little before their professor walks in, and he still feels alive when he gets his test paper, which is great considering he’s running on thirty minutes of sleep.

Seungcheol writes his name, then goes through the test paper.

Fuck.

He answers everything he can, but that’s less than half of the exam. It’s not nearly enough to pass, so he’s dividing the thirty minutes left to spare into time to reread all of the questions, answer what he can, and check what he’s already answered.

Seungcheol hates himself. He keeps second-guessing his answers, changing the A to D then finally deciding on C only to go back to A, and even then he’s not sure. There’s this one section with a diagram of the muscles of the human body, and blanks for him to fill in the parts’ names. His head feels cloudy, because he knows he memorized that, it was on page 303 of the textbook, and he can see the page of the textbook in his head but all the names are blurred out, like they’re censored.

He’s still tapping the sheet with his ballpen when the professor lays a hand on his shoulder.

“Time’s up,” She says as gently as she can.

Seungcheol looks up. All his classmates are gone, and it’s well into the afternoon.

He straightens his paper out and hands it to his professor, who can only give him a polite, apologetic smile. “How’d we do, Mr. Choi?” She asks.

“I’m sorry, Professor.” Seungcheol says, not meeting her eyes as he collects his things to leave.

A group of girls from his class are waiting outside the classroom, talking about their answers, which sound nothing like Seungcheol’s answers.

“Hey, Seungcheol!”

He turns around, and finds Nayeon waving excitedly at him, the other girls elbowing each other in the ribs and covering their mouths as they snicker.

“How was the exam?” She asks. “Not so bad, right?”

“Yeah…” Seungcheol says.

“Good thing you reminded me to study that diagram, it was a lifesaver.” Nayeon laughs. “We’re going out for some drinks, you wanna come?”

“No thanks, I’ll pass.” Seungcheol shrugs. “Maybe next time?”

“Okay, next time.” Nayeon’s friends have already started down the hallway without her. “See you tomorrow!”

“See you.”

Seungcheol pulls his phone out of his backpack. “Hey, Jisoo?”

“Hi, what’s up?” There’s rustling in the background, and the clinking of glasses, and a girl talking a few meters away from Jisoo that Seungcheol doesn’t recognize. “Sorry, guys I have to take this.”

Seungcheol swallows.

“Is something wrong?” Jisoo asks, pausing before asking, “How was your exam?”

“It’s ok. I didn’t know you were out.” Seungcheol says. “I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.” Someone’s calling out to Jisoo as he hangs up.

Seungcheol’s about to pocket his phone when he gets a message from his aunt.

_Can you bring the girls to dance class? I’m too sick to go out._

Seungcheol quickly sends his aunt a _Yes. On my way_.

 

“Who was that?” Nayoung asks, reaching over a bottle of wine to grab a handful of fries.

“Just, uh, another guy from my boarding house.” Jisoo settles himself on a pillow next to Jeonghan, who’s emptying a bottle of wine into a mug. They’re on the roof deck terrace of Pinky’s apartment, having some gross American food and Spanish red wine she’d stolen from her parents’ cellar. Pinky had told Nayoung she wanted to see Jeonghan and his new boyfriend, but Nayoung knew she was just checking whether Nayoung was really going to live with Jeonghan.

“Oh, you live in a boarding house?” Nayoung tries to sound chill about it. “Where?”

“It’s two blocks away from the university.”

Nayoung can feel Pinky looking at her like she’s about to say something, but waiting for the right time to say it.

“Do you have any free rooms?” Nayoung asks.

“Dunno. I’ll ask the guy who owns the place.” Jisoo says.

“Why?” Jeonghan asks. He looks at Pinky, whose mouth is pursed into a flattened V. “Is she moving out?”

“Yeah.” Pinky says, slamming her mug of wine down on the deck floor. “Nayoungie said she was going to stay with you.”

Jeonghan chortles on his fries. “With _me_?”

“When I was kicked out you said I could crash whenever.” Nayoung says, putting her hands up like hey, it wasn’t my fault.

“I meant like one day at a time, not _permanently_.”

“It’s not permanently,” Nayoung protests. “Just till I can find a place of my own.”

“Why don’t you just stay here?” Jeonghan waves a hand at the giant penthouse apartment below them. “How many guest rooms do you have, Pinky?”

“Four.” Pinky says. Her mouth is doing that thing again, that flat V shape she does when she’s upset, and Nayoung wants to throw her off the terrace. “But Nayoungie doesn’t like it here.”

“Why the fuck not?” Jeonghan goes. “I’d kill someone to live here, and you didn’t even have to!”

“You fucking live here if you want to so bad, I’ll stay with Tzuyu!” Nayoung throws her hands up in exasperation, knocking over one of the empty bottles. Shit. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok, I got it.” Jisoo rights the bottle and wipes up the few drops of spilled wine.

“Why did you lie to me?” Pinky shouts, standing up. She adjusts her shorts angrily.

“What was I supposed to say, that I was gonna just wing it? You wouldn’t have let me leave!”

“Of course I wouldn’t! I don’t want you to be homeless! I have a house and food and everything! You don’t have to-!”

“I don’t want your shit, Pinky, I can’t live just depending on you for everything!”

“But you totally could!”

“No I can’t!”

Jeonghan takes Jisoo by the arm and brings him to his feet, the two girls still shouting at each other loud enough for the whole city to hear.

“Let’s go.” Jeonghan says quietly.

 

Seungcheol’s climbing up the stairs to his aunt’s apartment when he gets a message from Jisoo.

_Are you home yet?_

_No. I’m at my aunt’s._ Seungcheol replies. He knocks on the door of her apartment unit, knowing that the doorbell’s broken.

_Ok. Tell me when you’re going home._

Seungcheol figures Jisoo wants to get him dinner after that godawful exam, but he knows he’s with his boyfriend and he doesn’t want to intrude on that. Seungcheol texts back, _I’ll be home late. Don’t wait up for me._

Mrs. Park opens the door. “Hello Cheollie.” She says. Her nose is red and eyes are puffy from what looks like a really bad cold.

“Hi Auntie.” Seungcheol pockets his phone, smiling. “Where’s Jihyo?”

 

Jisoo has his phone turned towards the window so Jeonghan doesn’t see what’s on it. He’s hoping Jeonghan’s being too much of a responsible driver to be checking who Jisoo’s texting, but he could never be too sure.

_I’ll be home late_. _Don’t wait up for me_. Jisoo praises every god. Jeonghan isn’t gonna run into Seungcheol today. He’s been living every day in a constant state of fear and guilt that subsides only when he’s watching anime or fucking Jeonghan. Not that those two are similar in any way.

“What, is the boarding house on fire or something?” Jeonghan asks.

“No, they were just asking about tissue paper.”

“Huh. Do you need buy-”

“No, it’s good.” Jisoo says.

“They don’t mind about me going there all the time, do they?” Jeonghan asks. “I mean, do they mind that you and I… have sex… The walls are thin.”

“Trust me, they’re not in any place to mind us.” Jisoo says, thinking about the boarding house owner and the occupant of room 2C, who never sleeps in room 2C or pays rent.

“That’s…good.” Jeonghan says slowly. He misses the turn onto the main avenue.

“Jeonghan, are you drunk?”

“No.” Jeonghan says, slowly. “Maybe. Yes. Can you drive?”

“Yeah, pull over.”

Jeonghan obeys without complaint, which would be weird if Jisoo didn’t know he was drunk. Jisoo unbuckles his seatbelt and crosses the car to drag Jeonghan out of the driver’s seat.

“I’m dizzy.” Jeonghan says.

“Go lie down at the back. I’ll drive you home.” Jisoo says, and watches Jeonghan lumber to the backseat obediently. Part of him liked Jeonghan doing whatever he told him to, and another part was afraid of what other people would do to Jeonghan if they got him this dangerously tipsy.

 

Jihyo starts jumping the minute Seungcheol entered the apartment. She grabs her cousin by the arm and drags him to her room. “This is my favorite cousin, Seungcheol-oppa, you remember him, right?”

“Yeah.” Tzuyu says, trying to tie her hair into a bun. She liked Seungcheol-oppa well enough that one time he baby-sat for her and Jihyo a few months earlier. Jeonghan was away for a field trip, and left her with Mrs. Park, who’d gotten the flu. “Why is he here?”

“Don’t be mean, Tzuyu, he’s gonna bring us to dance class cause my mom is sick!” Jihyo jumps.

“Why are you so happy about your mom being sick?”

“I’m not!” Jihyo says.

 

Seungcheol’s got one tiny hand in each of his giant hands as they cross the street quickly. The dance studio is three blocks away from the Park’s apartment, and those three blocks are generally quiet save for the occasional speeding truck. And Jihyo. Jihyo’s far from quiet.

“…but Tzuyu’s oppa has been really busy so she’s been sleeping over at our place a lot.” Jihyo says, as Seungcheol suddenly tunes into what she’s saying.

“What’s he been busy with?” Seungcheol asks. As far as he knew, Tzuyu’s older brother was still in high school. Way too young for their parents to leave them and get jobs in Canada, but it wasn’t his place to judge.

“School, I guess.” Jihyo shrugs.

“His new boyfriend.” Tzuyu mutters.

“His… _boyfriend_?” Seungcheol asks. Her high school-age older brother was dumping her with their neighbor to hang out with his boyfriend? It didn’t seem right, not that he had any right to judge.

“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?” Tzuyu glares up at him, her hand tightening around Seungcheol’s fingers, and Seungcheol feels his self-preservation instincts kick in.

“No, of course not. My best friend also dates boys. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

That reply satisfies Tzuyu, who goes back to walking in silence as Jihyo tells Seungcheol about the games they’ve been playing while Tzuyu’s been sleeping over.

“…Of course I’m the older princess and Tzuyu’s the younger princess, because I’m older and she’s younger, but we share the kingdom because we’re not like other princesses who kill and poison each other to get the throne.” Jihyo says. “We felt those princesses weren’t… _ideal_. Right, Tzuyu?”

Tzuyu grumbles in reply.

“We’re here! Come on, Tzuyu!” Jihyo grabs Tzuyu and starts dragging the younger girl up the stairs to the dance studio before Seungcheol can tell her to be careful. “Hurry up, oppa!”

“Coming, coming.” Seungcheol starts up the stairs after them, skipping every two steps.

 

“I can do it myself.” Jeonghan says, but he’s got an arm slung around Jisoo’s shoulders as they go up the stairs. His head feels like a pressure cooker full of bricks. Maybe he shouldn’t have finished that other bottle on his own, but it’s too late for that now.

Jeonghan reaches into his pocket for the keys to the apartment, and doesn’t find them there. He shoves his hand in again in panic.

“They’re here,” Jisoo reaches into his other pocket and pulls out the keys.

“Oh, thanks.” Jeonghan tries to get them but his hand misses. Stupid keys.

Jisoo unlocks the door for him, and helps him take his sneakers off. Jeonghan looks down and watches Jisoo struggle to untie Jeonghan’s laces, his face level with Jeonghan’s crotch. Not that he’s getting any ideas. Jeonghan’s beyond ideas. His thoughts are all one big pot of soup.

“I’m hungry.” Jeonghan realizes.

“Are you serious?” Jisoo asks. “Lift your foot.”

Jeonghan does, and Jisoo pulls one sneaker off. Two sneakers and a pair of socks later, Jisoo pretty much lugs Jeonghan towards his bed, which is a thin mattress on the floor by the window. The latter flops onto it like an obliging sack of rice.

 

Jisoo’s not sure whether he should leave Jeonghan face down on the mattress like a corpse, but he also doesn’t trust himself to stay here in this empty apartment with an obedient Jeonghan and do _nothing_. He doesn’t trust himself to do the right thing anymore, ever.

Jeonghan grumbles.

Jisoo flips him onto his side, letting him breathe.

“It’s hot.” Jeonghan grumbles. It’s really not. It’s early into a cold autumn evening.

“What do you want?”

“Fan.”

Jisoo picks up the electric fan by the kitchen and drags it into the room. He’s only been taking care of drunk Jeonghan for around fifteen minutes, and he’s exhausted. He needs to lift weights or something, like Seungcheol. There he goes, thinking about Seungcheol again.

Jisoo turns the fan on to the first setting with one toe. “Is that good?”

“No.” Jeonghan whines.

“What setting do you want?”

Jeonghan puts up 4 fingers. Jisoo frowns down at the electric fan, which only goes as far as 3. He sighs and hits the 3 button.

“No, no, no,” Jeonghan whines. He puts up 4 fingers again. “I want 4.”

“There’s no 4, Jeonghan, what do you want me to do?”

“4.” Jeonghan rolls over and spread-eagles dramatically onto the floor.

“Jesus, Jeonghan, not the floor.” Jisoo huffs as he tries to roll Jeonghan back onto the mattress.

“Floor’s cold.” Jeonghan grumbles, rolling onto the floor despite Jisoo’s best efforts.

Jisoo sighs, looking down at the heap on the floor. Even piss drunk, Jeonghan manages to be pretty. Jisoo hates him just a little bit, but he loves staring at him. Why does he have to be this shallow? Jisoo looks away, at the broken window put together with packaging and duct tape.

“I’m gonna go home now.” He says, but Jeonghan’s asleep. He makes sure the drunken mess is on its side and breathing before he leaves, locking the door behind him.

 

“Oppa, can we get ice cream?” Jihyo says, clinging to one of Seungcheol’s arms. The sun had begun to set while the girls were practicing their…whatever French word that was. It’s gotten cold enough that Jihyo’s shamelessly leeching off of Seungcheol’s body heat. Tzuyu’s still standing a respectful distance from Seungcheol, her hand shivering as she holding firmly onto two of his fingers.

“You don’t feel cold?” Seungcheol asks.

“I don’t.” Jihyo says confidently, her teeth chattering slightly. “Tzuyu, do you feel cold?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s just go home and eat something there.” Seungcheol says, gently putting an arm around Tzuyu.

She pulls her mouth into a disgruntled straight line, but she leans into Seungcheol’s jacket anyway. Seungcheol smiles.

“Auntie, we’re home!” Seungcheol calls. He lets Jihyo and Tzuyu run in first – Jihyo’s running, and Tzuyu’s walking calmly after her – before he kicks his shoes off.

“Thanks, Cheollie,” Mrs. Park says, looking a lot better than she had an hour before. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

“I-” Seungcheol remembers that Jisoo’s still out with his boyfriend. “Yeah, sure. I’d love to.”

“I thought you would. Can you help set the table?” Mrs. Park laughs, handing him five plates.

Seungcheol frowns. He, Mrs. Park, Jihyo, and Tzuyu were only four people. “Who else is coming?”

Someone knocks on the door.

“Come in!” Mrs. Park calls.

Seungcheol turns to find a tired-looking Jeonghan standing in the doorway, cradling some takeout noodles and a bottle of cola in his arms.

“Fuck.” Jeonghan says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT WEEK: Jisoo's Fuckin Dead


	5. Tzuyu’s the MVP, Jisoo’s the opposite

Tzuyu looks at her brother, who’s staring at his noodles instead of eating them.

She picks up a pickle and drops it on his plate.

He stares at it. Tzuyu rolls her eyes.

“Seungcheol, you’re also taking a pre-med, right?” Mrs. Park asks, breaking the silence.

“No, Auntie, I’m taking nursing.” Seungcheol says, gently moving the noodles back and forth on his plate.

“Oh.” Mrs. Park takes a mouthful of noodles.

Jihyo stops stuffing her face for a second. “So is Tzuyu not going to sleep over tonight?”

“You can still have your sleepover if you want to.” Jeonghan says. “Tzuyu?”

Tzuyu’s busy observing Seungcheol pick up and eat a single noodle, like an alien.

“Tzuyu, do you still want to stay here tonight?” Jeonghan asks.

“Ok.” Tzuyu knows something’s up, but not what exactly. “How are you going home, Seungcheol-oppa?”

“Huh?” Seungcheol drops a noodle. “Bus. I’m gonna take the bus.”

“Jeonghan-oppa can drive you.”

Jeonghan chortles on his soda. “W- What?”

“He’ll drive you home.” Tzuyu says, knowing that her word is final. Mrs. Park lifts her eyebrows but says nothing.

 

Jeonghan drums his hands on the wheel, waiting for the stoplight to turn green so he can have an excuse not to watch Seungcheol out of the corner of his eyes.

Seungcheol’s thinner. His hair is longer, but not on purpose. It looks like he probably just forgot to cut it, like he forgot to shave that morning. His eyes are darker, like he hasn’t slept in weeks.

“Where do you live again?” Jeonghan asks.

Seungcheol gives him the address, and Jeonghan hits the brakes a second too late, narrowly avoiding crashing into the car in front of them.

“WHAT?”

“Um…yeah?” Seungcheol grabs ahold of the sides of his seat. “Why?”

Jeonghan takes a deep breath, and pulls his mouth into one straight line. “Nothing.”

Jeonghan speeds ahead in silence, narrowly avoiding two more crashes.

Seungcheol’s holding onto the armrest and his chair for dear life. He’s afraid that Jeonghan’s mad that he didn’t call him up, even though he thought Jeonghan would probably be over him after three months.

“You, um, have to turn left after-”

“I know my way there.” Jeonghan says, through clenched teeth.

“Um.” Seungcheol doesn’t ask why. “Okay.”

 

“Hey _Jijoo_ ,” The occupant of room 2C’s looking out the window while Jisoo hunts in the refrigerator full of cold beers for some kind of food for them to eat.

“What is it, _Minky_?”

“Isn’t that your boyfriend?”

“What?” Jisoo gets off his knees and squints outside the window. Sure enough, Jeonghan’s storming up the sidewalk to the door.

Right behind him is Seungcheol, frantically searching his pockets for his keys.

Jisoo’s heart stops and drops right onto the floor. His lungs tighten.

He’s dead.

Jisoo chases after Jonghyun, begging him not to open the door.

“But Seungcheol’s outsi-”

“Please, Jonghyun, we’re friends, right? Please don’t open the door.” Jisoo begs.

“Do it,” Minki sneers.

“Jonghyun, can you open the door please?” Seungcheol calls from outside.

“Yeah.” Jeonghan growls from beside him.

Jonghyun unlocks the door and opens it, immediately pushed aside by Jeonghan, who’s on a warpath. Seungcheol follows after, not quite sure what’s happening.

“Hey Jeonghan.” Minki waves, from where he’s leaning on the kitchen doorway, his arms folded as he watches this entire mess.

“Hi Minki. Hi Jonghyun.” Jeonghan snarls. “Hi _Jisoo_.”

“H- Hi.”

“Guess who I found at my neighbor’s house?” Jeonghan says, taking a step towards Jisoo, whose knees have gone weak. “Guess who I found out has been living in this damn house this whole fucking time?”

“I- I, uh…” Jisoo stammers as Jonghyun herds Minki and Seungcheol up the stairs. Jonghyun was dependable. Why couldn’t he be like Jonghyun?

“Why the hell did you hide him from me?” Jeonghan says, his voice getting quieter. The house, at this point, is as loud as a crypt. “Why the hell couldn’t you just have said, yeah, I’ve seen him, we live in the same damned house?”

Jisoo takes a deep breath. He’s crossed over from being scared for his life and is now annoyed, and he doesn’t know why. No. He knows perfectly well why. He’s been annoyed at Jeonghan since he’d realized, last summer, that Jeonghan was checking out his best friend. He was annoyed when Seungcheol started paying more attention to the bitchy other counselor, and when he pretty much lost it over losing Jeonghan’s number. Seungcheol was _his_ straight problem to lose sleep over, and _he_ , Jisoo, was the one Seungcheol would trip over backwards to take care of, no strings attached. There just wasn’t space for another person in their pitifully platonic relationship.

“Why the hell do you care? He doesn’t even want you.” Jisoo gets way more satisfaction than he should have from Jeonghan’s face when he says that. “I was doing you a favor.”

Jeonghan takes a deep breath, but his breathing was steady to begin with.

“Thanks. Really.” He says, before turning on his heel and leaving.

When the door slams behind Jeonghan, Jisoo feels like he’s going to throw up.

 

Jisoo pretends not to hear the knocking on his door. He pulls the comforter over his head.

“Jisoo?”

If you’re strong enough to dump the first decent boyfriend you’ve ever had over a guy neither of you will have, then you’re strong enough to avoid talking to said guy. Right?

“What is it?” Jisoo asks.

“Can we talk?” Seungcheol’s already opened the door a crack.

“Yeah, sure.”

Seungcheol sits on the far corner of Jisoo’s bed. “How long have you been dating Jeonghan?”

Jisoo rolls his eyes in the dark. Of course he’s here to talk about Jeonghan.

“Around two months.” Jisoo surprises himself. That was longer than he’d thought.

“Oh.” Seungcheol says. “Um…are you two doing okay? Why is he mad?”

Jisoo wants to kill himself for ever having a crush on someone so dense.

“It’s nothing.” Jisoo lies. “We’re fine.”

“That’s good.”

They sit there for a few minutes. Jisoo, for the first time in years, doesn’t want to jump Seungcheol. He doesn’t even want Seungcheol there. He wants to bury himself in his comforter and die alone.

“Just…take care of him.” Seungcheol says, getting up.

“I do.” Jisoo says.

“Right. Yeah. Of course.” Seungcheol laughs at himself. “Sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“Good night.” Seungcheol says quietly, closing the door behind him.

 

Jeonghan’s not angry anymore, he realizes, as he lays awake staring at the ceiling. Tzuyu’s sleeping next door, so he’s got the apartment to himself to mope.

He doesn’t feel like moping either. Jisoo was right. Seungcheol was straight. The things that happened last summer were a fluke. He was better off with Jisoo, whom he actually liked being with, than Seungcheol, whom he couldn’t be with anyway.

Jisoo wasn’t bad. He was nice, except when he was being possessive of Seungcheol. But if Jeonghan had been Seungcheol’s friend, he wouldn’t have let him near anyone else either. He and Jisoo were on the same wavelength, which was a good thing. Supposedly.

Jeonghan throws off his blanket. He wants to be unreasonable and scream and throw furniture because he still thinks about Seungcheol and the stupid things he did, like believe that he could change kids’ lives with one summer camp, and slobber his kisses like a dog. He wants to be messy and text Jisoo that they’re over and he never wanted to see his face ever again, but he knows that he could actually go on dating Jisoo after this or not, and they could still be friends either way. He wants to be dramatic and stay up all night, tossing and turning, but he falls asleep pretty quickly.


	6. Back 2 cute kid stuff like nothing happened, I love being in denial.

“It’s Momo’s birthday tomorrow.” Jihyo whispers to Jeonghan as he helps her with her algebra homework a week later. They both know she’s gotten the hang of it, but she seems to like Jeonghan’s attention, so they pretend she needs it.

“Okay.” Jeonghan whispers back. “Do I make the cake this time?”

“We can make it together. You know how to make decorations, right?”

“Of course.” Jeonghan says. “What should I make?”

“Momo likes monkeys and bananas.”

“Okay. Got it.” Jeonghan mentally rearranges his schedule, pushing studying for his exam the next day after making shit for Momo’s birthday.

He and Jihyo high-five, silently, under the table.

“Oppa, how do you spell ‘tremulous’?” Chaeyoung asks.

“Do you need it for your homework?” Jeonghan asks.

“No.” Chaeyoung admits.

 

Jeonghan and Tzuyu buy enough art supplies to fill up Jeonghan’s entire trunk, and take three trips to get all of it up to their apartment. Jeonghan rolls up his sleeves and ties his and Tzuyu’s hair into ponytails.

Someone knocks on the door.

“Tzuyu, open the door for Jihyo please.”

Tzuyu grumbles but she unlocks the door anyway and holds it open. Jihyo walks in empty-handed, followed by Seungcheol carrying a crate of baking supplies.

Jeonghan doesn’t say anything. He stands there, folding his arms as Seungcheol kicks his shoes off.

“You can put the stuff over there on the counter, oppa.” Jihyo points at the tiny square of kitchen counter.

“Okay.” Seungcheol lowers the box, then turns back to the door. “I’m gonna go now. Bye,”

“Wait.” Jeonghan says.

“Yeah?” Seungcheol turns to him.

“We um, might need help with the cake and stuff.” Jeonghan doesn’t know why he’s saying this. “If you’re not busy, I mean.”

“I’m not.” Seungcheol shrugs. “But I don’t do arts and crafts.”

“You do now.” Jihyo says, dragging him into the apartment by the arm.

 

The banana-chocolate cake is baked and cooling, and Jeonghan, Tzuyu, Jihyo, and Seungcheol are sitting on the floor making multicolored paper chains to hang from the walls. Seungcheol’s still sweating over the cake, because he couldn’t tell when it was baked because it started out brown. Good thing Jeonghan knew how to do that thing where you poke the cake with a toothpick and see if it comes out clean.

“You cut out a bunch of long rectangles then bend one into a loop like this,” Jeonghan says, holding up a loop of paper and a stapler. “Then you staple it, and add another loop, then staple it, so on so forth.”

“Ok.” Seungcheol cuts a green sheet of paper into strips. He folds one without crumpling it, and staples it together. But the hole is too small for another strip to fit through, so he starts over. He throws four links before he finally gets the second link right without crumpling or ripping anything. So far, so good.

He looks over at Tzuyu, who’s already got around twenty links in her rainbow chain. It’s not fair to compare himself to her, because she’s Jeonghan’s little sister. He’s arts and crafts royalty, and they have the same blood.

Seungcheol looks at Jihyo, of his own blood, and she’s got around twenty links too. Shit.

“Need help? You just add another one like this,” Jeonghan says, adding a link to the two Seungcheol’s holding. He staples it, his arms briefly brushing against Seungcheol’s.

“Yeah, I got that.”

“Then do it.” Jeonghan says, going back to his chain, which is more than Tzuyu’s and Jihyo’s combined.

Seungcheol adds a link, then borrows the stapler from Jihyo. Jeonghan’s hair is falling out of his ponytail, and over his face. Seungcheol likes it when Jeonghan’s concentrating on something, because then there’s no fear of Jeonghan catching him staring.

Something in his finger stings.

“OPPA!” Jihyo screams, standing up and pressing herself against the wall.

Jeonghan and Tzuyu make the same, wide-eyed surprised look.

Seungcheol looks down and finds that he’s stapled his finger. He sees where the staple’s gone through his nail, and promptly passes out.

 

The room is dark when Seungcheol wakes up. The only light is coming from the kitchen table, where Jeonghan’s got three giant textbooks open. Jeonghan’s got a highlighter in his mouth as he paints one of his textbooks with another one. His bleached hair glows in the harsh light, and Seungcheol hadn’t appreciated it till then. It’s like a halo.

Seungcheol sits up, shaking his hands through his hair. Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend. Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend. Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend.

“Where are Jihyo and Tzuyu?” Seungcheol asks.

“Playing in Jihyo’s room. We finished the decorations and the cake.” Jeonghan says without looking up. “Figured you needed sleep.”

Seungcheol finds a box filled with clean paper chains, his bloodied three links probably in the trash. There’s also a bright yellow iced cake on the kitchen counter, with little chocolate monkeys holding chocolate bananas.

“Woah, this is really really,” Seungcheol looks closer at the sculpted chocolate monkeys. One of them’s even winking at him. Jeonghan is a wizard, confirmed. “Really fucking cool.”

“Thanks.” Jeonghan says, turning to his other textbook.

Seungcheol kind of teeters back and forth on his socks for a few minutes, while Jeonghan frowns at his textbooks.

“I’ll go now.” Seungcheol says.

“Okay.” Jeonghan flips a page, exchanging the highlighter in between his teeth for another one. Seungcheol never in his life thought he’d want to be a highlighter.

 

“Will you be going to Momo’s birthday party tomorrow?” Jihyo asks Seungcheol as they eat dinner. Tzuyu’s joining them, and Mrs. Park knows better than to bother Jeonghan while he’s studying.

“I don’t even know who Momo is.” Seungcheol says.

“She goes to our tutoring center.” Tzuyu pushes the vegetables to one side of her plate, taking another bite of meat.

“The one Jeonghan-oppa teaches at.” Jihyo says, thinking that will convince him. It kind of does.

Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend. Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend.

“Are you sure other people can just go into the tutoring center? They don’t even let parents in.” Mrs. Park says.

“Well,” Jihyo furrows her brow. “Seungcheol-oppa can just work there too. You can teach math and science and stuff, right?”

“I don’t think-” Seungcheol starts, but Jihyo cuts him off.

“And you need the extra money, right?” Jihyo asks.

“Jihyo…” Mrs. Park warns her.

“I didn’t call him poor!” Jihyo protests.

“Now you did.” Tzuyu says.

 

Mrs. Park and Seungcheol drop Tzuyu off at her house, where her brother is still poring over the same two textbooks.

“Don’t forget to eat, Jeonghan.” Mrs. Park says. “Tzuyu, please lock the door.”

She turns to Seungcheol. “I’m sorry about what Jihyo said earlier. She overheard me talking to your mother, and I had to explain things to her about your…situation.”

“It’s okay, Auntie. She’s not trying to be mean or anything,” Seungcheol shrugs. “And it’s true.”

Mrs. Park purses her lips. “Cheollie…I’m not a rich person who has extra money to throw around, but if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask me, okay?”

“Okay.” Seungcheol says, seriously doubting he would ever. “Bye, Auntie.”

“Bye, Cheollie.” She hugs him.

 

Jisoo’s eating dinner, which is a warm bowl of cup noodles, when Seungcheol gets home. The first thing he sees is the bandage around his finger.

“What the hell happened to you?” Jisoo asks, putting the cup down on the kitchen counter.

“I s- stapled my finger.” Seungcheol feels lightheaded just saying it.

“Why the hell- You know what, never mind.” Jisoo says, picking up his cup noodles again. “Did you at least wash it?”

“Yeah, Jeonghan did.” Seungcheol yawns. He always eats too much at his aunt’s house.

“You were with Jeonghan?” Jisoo asks.

Seungcheol stops on his way up the stairs.

“His sister and my cousin were there too. We made a cake and party decorations for one of the kids in their tutoring center.” He says quickly, not sure why he’s so guilty.

“Uh, congrats?” Jisoo takes a slurp of soup.

Seungcheol climbs the stairs, skipping every two steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been a filler ep, brace urselves for next week,,, everyone knows what happens after filler eps


	7. TIME 4 DRAMA MODERFOKERS

“…So, are you still dating Jisoo?” Nayoung asks, over the phone.

Jeonghan flicks the right turn signal on. “I guess.”

“You _guess_? It’s either you’re still dating or you’re not.” Nayoung goes.

“Are you still dating Pinky?”

Nayoung’s end of the line is quiet for some time, until she says “Fuck you.” and hangs up.

Jeonghan locks his phone as he turns right onto the driveway to Tzuyu’s school. He’d just come out of a four-hour exam that lasted six, and he’d sprinted straight for the parking lot. The sun has already set by the time he gets to the school, and Tzuyu’s the last kid there, holding the bars of the school gate like a prisoner. Her mouth is pulled into a straight line, and she’s glowering into the direction of the car.

“Shit.” Jeonghan pulls over. He unclips his seatbelt and runs out.

“I’m sorry, Tzuyu, my exam ran late and I just got here now,” He says, as Tzuyu slams the bars of the gate behind her.

He runs to overtake her and open the door for her, fixing the seatbelt around her booster seat. “We can get burgers on the way home. Do you want a burger?”

Tzuyu hugs Jeonghan around the waist, pressing her face into his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” Jeonghan wraps his arms around her, pressing his nose into the top of her head. “I’m sorry.”

“I thought you forgot about me.” Tzuyu mumbles into Jeonghan’s shirt.

“I would never leave you in this goddamn place.” Jeonghans pulls back and kisses Tzuyu’s forehead. “I’m so sorry, Tzuyu.”

Tzuyu hiccups as she swallows her tears. “I want to go home.”

“Of course.” Jeonghan helps Tzuyu onto her booster seat and fastens her seatbelt. He kisses her on the forehead again. “Let’s go home.”

 

Jeonghan brings out the beef he’d been saving for the weekend and grills it up while Tzuyu takes a shower.

His phone is ringing. It’s Jisoo again.

Jeonghan rejects the call with his elbow and goes back to the beef. He’s also prepared enough side dishes to feed royalty, and cooked some fresh rice instead of reheating rice from the night before.

Someone knocks on the door just as Jeonghan pops some brownies into the oven.

“Jeonghan?” Mrs. Park calls from the other side of the door.

Jeonghan throws his mitts aside and opens the door. “Hi Mrs. Park.”

She’s holding Jihyo by the shoulders, but she’s wearing a coat and Jihyo’s wearing pajamas. “I’m so sorry to bother you like this Jeonghan, but could you watch Jihyo for a few days? Seungcheol was supposed to come by, but he’s not here and…”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Park. Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yeah, yes, everything’s fine.” Mrs. Park says.

“Grandma got sick.” Jihyo says.

“ _Jihyo_.” Mrs. Park snaps then takes a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m sorry, Jeonghan, but I don’t have anyone else to ask on such short notice.”

“Okay. I owe you for all the times you watched over Tzuyu.” Jeonghan takes Jihyo from her. “Take care, Mrs. Park.”

“Thank you so much, Jeonghan.” Mrs. Park hugs him briefly, then tells Jihyo to behave, then leaves in a hurry.

Jihyo’s eyes widen as she sits at the dinner table, visually inspecting every tiny dish. “Is it someone’s birthday?” She asks.

“No.” Jeonghan says. “I picked up Tzuyu late from school today, and she’s really upset.”

“Oh.” Jihyo says. “Were you out with your boyfriend?”

“No.” Jeonghan frowns. What on earth did Tzuyu tell Jihyo about him? “I had a test at school.”

“Oh.”

Tzuyu comes out of the shower, her hair still dripping wet. She looks at the table and smiles. She starts running around, looking at all the food. She dashes around the table and peeks into the oven.

“Are those brownies?” Tzuyu asks excitedly, dripping all over the kitchen floor.

“Yeah.” Jeonghan picks up a fresh towel and wraps Tzuyu’s hair in it.

 

Jisoo calls again while they’re eating dinner, and Jeonghan turns his phone off.

Jihyo’s so happy she’s skipping around the table instead of reaching over to get the side dishes. Tzuyu’s smiling wide enough to show the gaps where her permanent teeth were still growing in.

“Do you like the food, Jihyo?” Jeonghan asks, refilling her bowl of rice.

“I… I love you.” Jihyo says.

Tzuyu snorts.

“Can I just come and live with you?” Jihyo says, her eyes dead serious.

“You already live next door.” Jeonghan laughs. “You can eat here anytime.”

“I want to live with you.” Jihyo says, and something about the way she’s staring at him makes Jeonghan drop a piece of beef. Right. She’s Seungcheol’s cousin.

Someone knocks on the door like they’re trying to knock it down.

Jeonghan picks up a knife and goes to the door, shooing the girls to the bedroom.

He opens the door a crack, tightening his grip around the knife.

“Jeonghan? Do you know where Jihyo is?” Seungcheol asks frantically. Jisoo’s there behind him, trying to call someone on his phone.

Jeonghan puts the knife down on the counter. He wants to lock the door and go back to dinner, but Seungcheol looks like he’s about to cry.

Jeonghan hates Seungcheol’s stupid eyes. He opens the door. “We’re having dinner. Have you guys eaten?”

 

Jihyo and Tzuyu are forcing Jisoo and Seungcheol to try their favorite food, which is basically everything on the table. The two guys are trying to be polite and calm the kids down, but the food is worth the hype.

Jeonghan tries not to look smug, but he knows he does. Damn right.

“Can we have the brownies now?” Jihyo asks.

“Yes. Please.” Tzuyu says, glaring at Jeonghan. She’s going to milk this evening for all its worth, and Jeonghan knows it.

“Sure.” Jeonghan cuts the brownies in the pan, then places one generous cube each on Jihyo’s and Tzuyu’s plates. He looks at Jisoo and Seungcheol, and asks, “Do you guys want some?”

“Yeah.” They say, shamelessly.

Jeonghan eventually calms the girls down enough to get them to brush their teeth and lie down in the room. He knows they’re not sleeping, because every five seconds they’re giggling about something new, but he did his best.

“Go to sleep, guys.” Jeonghan calls through the door. “You have school tomorrow.”

Jisoo and Seungcheol are sitting at the kitchen table, judging one of their mutual friends’ Instagram posts while sipping from beers Jeonghan had been saving For Emergencies.

Jeonghan just watches them for some time, his arms folded. This is ridiculous. Look at them, acting like nothing happened at all between the three of them. Jeonghan takes a deep breath. He could play this game.

He drags a chair from the other side of the table and sits between them, crossing his legs.

“Who’s that?” He asks, taking a sip from Seungcheol’s beer before anyone can protest.

“Dongho.” Jisoo replies, scrolling back up.

“He also lives in our boarding house.” Seungcheol explains.

Jeonghan frowns at the tattoo-flashing photos of pecs and biceps, hunting for this guy’s face. “What a fuckboy insta.”

Seungcheol laughs. He’s still got brownie stuck between his front teeth.

“He’s actually a nice guy.” Jisoo says. “But his insta is just…”

“Awful.” Jeonghan says. “Even I wouldn’t touch that.”

“Yeah right.” Jisoo scoffs. “ _Your_ thirsty ass? You don’t have standards.”

“He does…I think.” Seungcheol says, taking another sip of beer.

“You know you guys are dragging yourselves, right?” Jeonghan asks, as he tips the last of Seungcheol’s beer into his mouth.

“…We _are_.” Seungcheol blinks in realization.

“But we’re taking you down with us.” Jisoo finds that his bottle of beer is empty, and reaches for Seungcheol’s, then drums his fingers on the table.

“I got you.” Jeonghan gets up and pops three more bottles open. He smiles. Gross.

 

Jeonghan wakes up on the couch, with Jisoo’s face on his shoulder, breathing into his neck, and Seungcheol lying in his lap, snoring into the bottom of Jeonghan’s stomach. His back and neck hurt. He could give you their Latin names, but he’s too sleepy and tipsy to remember them.

His phone is vibrating in his pocket.  

Jisoo wasn’t calling him, because Jisoo was currently tucking his face into Jeonghan’s neck. Seungcheol’s rolling over the vibrating phone, tapping him to pick it up.

Jeonghan pulls his phone out of his pocket. It’s his mother, trying to video call him.

He all but throws Jisoo and Seungcheol onto the floor, runs his fingers through his hair, and answers it.

“Hi…Mother.” Jeonghan says. Seungcheol tries to look up and see what’s going on, but Jeonghan pushes his head down. “How are you doing?”

His mother looks the same as she did two years before, when she left him and Tzuyu for Canada. She’s so unchanged it’s almost creepy. “Let me talk to Tzuyu.”

“She’s asleep. It’s like 1 in the morning here.” Jeonghan says.

“Wake her up.”

“She has school tomorrow…today. Can’t it wait?” Jeonghan says.

“Fine.” His mother says. A man’s torso comes into the video frame. Jeonghan’s mother looks up at him. “It’s just Jeonghan. Tzuyu’s asleep.”

Seungcheol’s looking up at Jeonghan from the floor with eyes so confused all he needs are question marks floating around his head.

“Ah, Jeonghan. We wanted to talk to Tzuyu.”

“So I’ve heard.” Jeonghan says.

“The thing is,” His mother says. “We want to bring her here.”

Jeonghan doesn’t say anything, so she continues. “It’ll be better for her here. The schools are better, she’ll have better opportunities…And we think she needs to be raised with her parents-”

“So which one of you is going to quit their job to take care of Tzuyu?”

“You know we can’t do that.” His mother says.

“I thought so.” Jeonghan says.

“I don’t like your tone. Don’t talk to us like that.” His father snaps.

“She’s a big girl-” His mother starts.

“She’s eight years old!” Jeonghan raises his voice, and he feels Seungcheol grab his knee in warning. He shakes his hand off.

“Don’t shout at your mother!” His father shouts.

“We just want what’s best for Tzuyu, and we feel that it would be having her here, with us.” His mother says. “I’m sorry we can’t bring you too, but you know how immigration is with adults…”

Jeonghan’s breathing through his nose, trying very hard not to cry in front of them.

“…We just want Tzuyu to grow up in a normal household, with her mother and her father-”

“Not her brother and his boyfriends.” Jeonghan's father cuts in.

“Honey!” His mother puts the screen closer to her face, cropping his father out. “I’m sorry, Jeonghan, you know he didn’t mean it that way.”

“How _did_ he mean it, mother?”

His mother is silent.

“Look, I’m glad you two have settled into your new life and you finally remembered you had an eight-year-old daughter, but I don’t care how guilty you guys feel, I think Tzuyu’s better off here, with me.” Jeonghan spits it all out in one breath, ignoring his parents’ protests. “And maybe my boyfriends.”

Jeonghan hangs up on his parents shouting things about values and what’s best for Tzuyu.

He throws his phone onto the couch beside him and slinks down, shutting his eyes. He feels a hand press on his.

Jeonghan opens his eyes and finds Jisoo and Seungcheol looking up at him, the latter’s hand gently caressing his.

“We heard everything.” Jisoo says.

“Sorry.” Seungcheol says.

Jeonghan pulls his hand back and rubs his temples. “They’re- They’re _so_ …I can’t- They make me so…” He rubs his temples so hard he’s sure they’re gonna be red in the morning.

“They’re gonna take Tzuyu away.” Is all Jeonghan’s able to say before he breaks down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love lil tzuyu so much


	8. More drama I guess

Tzuyu wakes up to find her brother squeezing her like a pillow. She tries to wriggle out, but his arms are so heavy. His breath smells like beer again, which is probably why he’s still sleeping despite the sun being pretty high in the sky.

“Oppa.” Tzuyu uses her shoulder to shove Jeonghan over. “Wake up.”

Tzuyu kicks him in the shin. “Oppa, wake up.”

Jeonghan rolls onto his back, stretching his arms until they hit the wall. “What time is it?” He asks.

Tzuyu picks up his phone, which has 11 missed calls and even more texts from their mom. The last time their mom called, Tzuyu had still been 7 years old. Maybe something happened to them, and it was an emergency. She hoped not, but she isn’t really afraid for her parents. She’s afraid that if anything happened to their parents, Jeonghan would have to quit school and work for the both of them.

“7:30.” She says, locking the phone again.

“Shit.”

 

Jeonghan’s an hour late for his lecture class, which is three hours long anyway so nobody cares. He’d gone on a rush hour tour of the city, dropping off Tzuyu and Jihyo at school, Seungcheol to his class, and Jisoo to his boarding house. He would’ve gone on driving around aimlessly, if his classmate hadn’t texted him asking him where the hell he was.

Jeonghan sits somewhere near the middle of the auditorium to listen, but the professor’s words blur into white noise, like he’s speaking in a language Jeonghan doesn’t understand. He’s stopped taking notes, and stopped tapping his ballpen on his desk absentmindedly.

His parents were right, in a way. Tzuyu was their kid, and they had every right to have her live with them. She was too young for them to leave here, with her older brother who’s hardly an adult. Tzuyu would have a good life in Canada, where her school would be free and she could live in a house, not a smelly old one-bedroom apartment. Their parents would finally be able to live guilt-free, and Tzuyu would be fine.

Jeonghan wouldn’t be.

He wouldn’t know that he’s missed meals if there weren’t a hungry 8-year-old complaining about not having had dinner. He wouldn’t realize that he’s been studying all night if there weren’t someone telling him that the light was too bright, he should turn it off and go to sleep. His entire daily routine was centered around keeping Tzuyu alive, happy, and out of trouble. Did their parents ever feel that way about either of them?

The girl sitting next to him taps him gently on the arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

Jeonghan realizes he’s been crying, and wipes his eyes on his jacket sleeve. “Yeah. My eyes are just kinda dry.”

“Oh. You should get eye drops for that.”

 

Nayoung knocks on the door, wondering if she’s at the right address.

A tall guy with a wide, flat smile opens the door. “Nayoung?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Jonghyun.” He extends a hand, and Nayoung thinks he’s asking her to shake it, but then he gets her suitcase and brings it in for her. “This is the house. It’s not much, but we aren’t asking for much either, so…”

She follows him into a very tight, low house that looks like it belongs or belonged to Jonghyun’s grandmother. It looks like it was built in the 70’s, matured into the 80’s, and never moved on from there. The furniture was all antique and kind of damp, and there were knitted cozies and table runners everywhere. Yellowing cross-stitched landscapes hung on the walls, and the grayish lace curtains in the windows looked like they used to be white.

“It’s perfect.” Nayoung says, taking in a deep breath of dust and mold.

“Great.” Jonghyun’s shoulders relax a little. “You can take room 2C, I’ve made the tenant move out all his stuff but if you find any just give them to me.”

“Wait, you kicked him out?”

“No, he, um…” Jonghyun’s obviously trying to word and re-word things in his head before he says anything. His face is a little bit red when he admits, “He’s staying in my room now.”

“Oh.” Nayoung nods, giving him a knowing, homosexual smile. “I see.”

 

“Oppa, why do some people have big houses for very few people, but other people have to squish many people into small houses?” Dahyun asks later that afternoon, after having read something on current events. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for more people to live in the big houses and less people to live in the small houses?”

“It does, but it takes a lot of money to buy a big house, and very few people have that kind of money.” Jeonghan explains. “Only the rich people can buy big houses, but there aren’t a lot of them, so they don’t really fill up the house. Small houses are cheaper, so lots more people buy them and live in them. Does that make sense?”

“No.” Dahyun frowns.

“That’s just the way the world is.” Jeongyeon mutters, not looking up from her reading assignment.

Jeonghan frowns at her. He used to hate it when adults would say that to him, so he tries to explain some more. “There are very few rich people, and lots of…not rich people. The bigger a house is, the more expensive it is. So only the very few rich people can buy big houses. Everyone else can’t buy the big houses, so they have to buy small houses and just fit in there.”

“That’s not fair.” Dahyun says.

“The world’s not fair.” Jeongyeon says.

Jeonghan’s the one who has to find tissue and a candy somewhere in his backpack and calm Dahyun down when she starts crying about social classes and inequality. What the hell is wrong with schools these days? Why don’t they just let kids be kids and not have to worry about all the ugly shit in the world?

“The world’s still nice, Dahyunnie,” Jihyo says, patting the younger girl’s hair. “Even the not-rich people can still have nice things, like friends and family and Jeonghan-oppa’s cooking.”

Jeonghan’s about to protest when Tzuyu says, “Yes.”

 

When Jeonghan climbs up the stairs to the apartment that evening, he sees a figure in a hoodie slouched on the floor across their door. Jeonghan pushes the girls back and makes them wait at the landing, then goes up to the figure, a pair of pocket scissors drawn.

Now he feels like the creepy one, because he recognizes the figure’s shoulders from a few meters away. Jeonghan throws his hood off. “Seungcheol, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to know if you were doing okay.” Seungcheol says, putting his hands up in surrender.

“They invented phones for that.”

“I don’t have your number.” Seungcheol smiles apologetically at him. “I _still_ don’t have your number, I mean.”

“Come, guys, it’s just Seungcheol.” Jeonghan calls to the two girls, who are still waiting in the stairwell.

“OPPA!” Jihyo screams, running to hug Seungcheol. “Are you going to sleep over again?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so…” Seungcheol looks at Jeonghan in confusion, who looks back at him in double the confusion.

“No, he’s not going to sleep over.” Jeonghan says, mostly to himself.

 

Seungcheol’s sitting on one of the kitchen chairs backwards, propping himself up on the backrest as he watches Jeonghan check on the soup he’s making. Tzuyu and Jihyo are playing in the bedroom, in front of the electric fan so they don’t get too sweaty, since they’ve both already washed up into their pajamas. Seungcheol can vaguely hear their talking and laughing without making out anything they’re actually saying. He closes his eyes, listening to the clinking of Jeonghan stirring the soup.

He could live like this. Just a small house, maybe two kids, and Jeong-

“Hey.” Jeonghan’s bent over, waving a hand in front of Seungcheol’s face. “Go to the couch if you’re sleepy.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Sure.” Jeonghan goes back the soup, tasting it with a little spoon.

Seungcheol checks if the bedroom door is closed before asking, “Have you told Tzuyu about…Canada?”

“No.” Jeonghan smacks the spoon down on the counter, hard.

“Maybe you could try talking to your parents again?”

“There’s no talking to them.” Jeonghan says.

“What if-”

“There’s nothing I can do, okay? I don’t know how your parents are, but mine are just…impossible. Nothing I say could ever change their minds about anything.” Jeonghan’s still looking down at the soup tureen, faced away from Seungcheol. His shoulders are heaving up and down, like he’s trying really hard not to cry. Seungcheol is doing everything he can not to run to him.

“And they’re right anyway.” Jeonghan says, his voice flat. “Tzuyu will be better off there. And she’s their kid, she should be with them.”

“You’re their kid too.”

Seungcheol watches Jeonghan stop controlling his breaths for a second, and turn to him.

“You know what, I didn’t even think of that.” Jeonghan smiles at him, but he still looks sad.

“And you take such good care of Tzuyu,” Seungcheol says, and he stops himself from saying the fifteen-minute-long speech he’s already made up in his head on the spot. “I don’t think anyone else could be better for her.”

Jeonghan laughs. “What do you want from me, huh? You could just ask for an extra bowl of rice like a normal per-”

“I’m serious.” Seungcheol gets off his chair, and walks towards Jeonghan. Oh well. It’s too late. He tried not to.

He kisses Jeonghan, who is Jisoo’s boyfriend. It’s worth a shot.

“What the hell,” Jeonghan breathes.

“I didn’t want you to be sad anymore.” Seungcheol puts his hands around Jeonghan’s waist to pull him closer. Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend. Jeonghan is Jisoo’s boyfriend.

Jeonghan goes in for another kiss.

“I’m still sad.” He says. “But this is nice.”

Okay, so it didn’t work, but nice is good enough. Seungcheol kisses him again, maybe if he kissed Jeonghan more he would feel better…more. Seungcheol frowns into another kiss. It’s just for this one time, okay, all of this is just one time. It’s not going to happen again. It’s just because Jeonghan, who is Jisoo’s boyfriend, is sad today.

The bedroom doorknob clicks.

Seungcheol gets shoved back into his chair, and when he looks up Jeonghan’s extra interested in the soup.

“Oppa?” Tzuyu asks, poking her head out of the door. “Is dinner ready? Jihyo’s hungry.”

“Why did you say that!” Jihyo shouts from inside the room.

“Yeah, give me a few minutes.” Jeonghan says calmly. “Cheol, can you set the table please?’

“ _Cheol_ ,” Seungcheol repeats, grinning.

 

Jisoo turns a page on his heavily-bookmarked copy of the Odyssey. He’s starving, but he’s getting a lot of work done trying to distract himself from feeling like a gross person.

He doesn’t deserve Jeonghan, but not because he’d lied to him for the past three months of their sort of relationship. It was because he doesn’t even call it a full-blown relationship even if they’ve been seeing each other for almost three months. He can’t even remember how long they’ve been going out.

This is why he doesn’t deserve nice things. Like Jeonghan.

Jisoo types up some more notes into his laptop. He’s doing this paper a semester in advance, which he has never done in his whole life. Maybe he should stay with Jeonghan, the guilt is doing wonders for his academic career.

Someone tries the door to his room, but it’s locked. Jisoo hopes it’s Seungcheol, so he feels worse as a human being and is more compelled to finish this paper.

“Open this fucking door Hong Jisoo!” Someone, not Seungcheol, says from outside. It’s Nayoung. Why did he give her Jonghyun’s number again? “I know you’re moping, let’s mope together!”

Jisoo rolls his eyes. He looks at the Odyssey, and it looks back at him like, _You deserve only pain and suffering and re-reading me for the tenth time._

He opens the door. “I’m busy.”

“Busy crying?” Nayoung grabs Jisoo’s cheeks, inspecting them for tear tracks.

“Fuck you.” Jisoo says. “We didn’t even break up. Unlike some lesbians I know…”

“Aw, you’re such a bitch.” Nayoung pinches his cheek. “Wanna go out for dinner?”

Jisoo’s stomach chooses then to grumble. That little piece of-

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Nayoung barges into Jisoo’s room, picks up his jacket and wallet and throws them at him. “Let’s go, my favorite food stall’s gonna be full of people soon.”

 

“Hey Seungcheol!” Nayeon says brightly, sliding into the seat next to Seungcheol. “Did you have a nice Tuesday night?”

“Huh?” Seungcheol asks.

Nayeon leans in to whisper, “You’re wearing the same clothes as yesterday, aren’t you?”

“Oh.” Seungcheol blushes. “It’s not…I didn’t…I had to babysit my cousin cause her mom’s out of town and I forgot to bring extra clothes.”

It wasn’t completely untrue. He left out the part where his cousin and his best friend’s boyfriend’s sister went to bed early and he and his best friend’s boyfriend made out until sunrise, but Nayeon didn’t need to know that. It was too early in the morning for him to get into the whole It Was A One Time Thing thing again.

“Aw, that’s so cute!” Nayeon clutches her cheeks. “How old is she?”

“Nine.”

“Aww!”

Their Anatomy professor pulls a large stack of papers from her handbag. “I’m so sorry I haven’t returned your other exams until now, but some things came up at home and…Well, at least you’re all just going to be shocked once, right?”

The class groans collectively except Seungcheol, whose palms have gone sweaty. This is it. He’s being punished for making out with his best friend’s boyfriend. There _is_ probably a God out there watching, and shaking his head at Seungcheol.

“Just a word of warning, the scores aren’t looking too good-” The professor pauses to let the class complain again, before continuing, “-but I hope they push you to study more for the finals two weeks from now.”

The professor pauses, and the class groans on cue. She sighs, before licking her thumb and flipping through the papers. “Get your exams when I call your name. Ahn Hani?” She calls out.

Seungcheol looks up. God, if you’re there and you’re disappointed in me, please just let me pass anatomy I promise I won’t even _look_ at Jeonghan ever again.

Seungcheol scoffs out loud, and Nayeon frowns at him. There is no way in hell he’s going to stop looking at Jeonghan. Hell. He’s going to hell.

“Choi Seungcheol?”

Seungcheol points at himself, and his professor laughs. “Yes, you Choi Seungcheol. Unless there’s another one here?”

“Oh. Sorry.” Seungcheol bounds to the front of the classroom.

His professor smiles at him so hard her eyes squeeze shut. She hands him his exam papers.

“We’re doing good, Mr. Choi.” She whispers, waving a little fist like she’s holding an invisible flag.

“What?” Seungcheol looks down at his papers. He didn’t just pass, he’s slightly above average. A hair above average. He’s a genius. “ _WHAT?_ ”

“Congrats!” His professor smiles. “Study hard for the finals, okay?”

“I will, Professor.” Seungcheol can’t hide his gummy smile as he walks back to his seat, past his failing classmates’ bitter glares.

Seungcheol’s jumping all the way to the bus stop, stopping only to swing around a streetlamp. He jumps all the steps to board the bus, beeps his card in, then skips to the back. He pulls out his phone and finds that there are a handful of missed calls from his mom.

“Mama?” Seungcheol asks, trying to swallow his excitement. He’s going to play it cool. No, he’s going to pretend to be sad then jump out with the fact that he’s passing anatomy all of a sudden.

“Seungcheol-ah?” His mother’s voice is very quiet. He turns up the volume on his phone.

“Hello? Mama? Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Why were you calling?”

“Can you come home? Your aunt is going home now, so you don’t need to look after Jihyo.” His mom’s voice gets quieter. “I don’t want to say this over the telephone.”

Seungcheol leans back into his seat. “What’s the matter?”

His dad’s saying something in the background, but he can’t understand it.

“Mama, what happened?”

There’s a clunking as the phone sounds like it’s being badly blocked with a hand while his parents argue about something, then more clunking as it seems to be passed around.

“Hello, Seungcheol?” His dad says, his voice always too loud. Seungcheol lowers the volume a bit.

“What’s wro-?”

“We’re going to have to pull you out of school, Seungcheol. Your grandma’s sick and we just can’t afford… You can go back to studying after we’ve saved some… I know school’s important to you…”

Seungcheol swallows. “How’s grandma?”

“The doctor says she needs surgery and therapy after, but she’s going to be okay after all that.”

“Ok. I’ll go home tonight.”

“Ok.” His dad’s voice then become quieter, like he’s moved away from the phone. “Honey, how do you turn this off?”

There’s more clunking as the phone is passed back to Seungcheol’s mom. “Seungcheol, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll see you later, Mama. I love you.”

“I love you too, Seungcheol-ah. Bye.”

“Bye.” His dad’s still talking in the background when his mom hangs up, but Seungcheol doesn’t bother to decipher what he’s saying.

Seungcheol slinks low in his seat so no one can see him, pulls up the hood of his jacket, and cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone should have access to free, quality education is all i'm saying


	9. WE AINT DONE YET

Tzuyu notices that there’s beef on the dinner table again, and three more side dishes than an ordinary day. She observes Jeonghan for some time, but he looks like he always does, stuffing his face with one hand and studying his notes in the other.

“Oppa?”

Jeonghan looks up from his notes, half a piece of beef still hanging from his mouth. “Hm?”

“Why do we have beef again?” Tzuyu asks. “Beef is expensive.”

Tzuyu knows she hit Jeonghan’s least favorite word, because he cringes.

“Why are you complaining? Isn’t it your favorite?” Jeonghan asks, taking a bite of spicy pickled cucumber.

Tzuyu gives him a suspicious look. “It is…”

“Then just enjoy it, and don’t ask questions.” Jeonghan places another piece of beef on top of Tzuyu’s rice.

Tzuyu chews on the beef. She’s going to enjoy it, but she’s not done asking questions. “Oppa?”

Jeonghan balances some kimchi on top of a large ball of rice, and stuffs it in his mouth. “Wha naw?”

“Are you still dating Jisoo?”

Jeonghan chokes on his rice, then takes a gulp of water to save himself. “Yes I am. We haven’t broken up. Why do you ask?”

Tzuyu places a small piece of kimchi on a ball of rice. “Why were you kissing Seungcheol-oppa, then?”

Jeonghan chokes on his rice so hard his face goes red, and Tzuyu’s afraid she’s going to have to cook herself breakfast tomorrow morning.

She hears a buzzing noise and looks at the table next to her while Jeonghan’s busy drinking an entire glass of water.

“Oppa, your phone…” She picks it up, and finds that their mom is calling.

Jeonghan, whose face is still reddish, takes the phone from her. He takes one look at it, then rejects the call. Tzuyu lifts her eyebrows.

“Why’d you do that?”

“It’s just a prank call.”

“It wasn’t. I saw it was our-”

The phone buzzes again, with a message that goes,

_Let me talk to Tzuyu._

Tzuyu knows that Jeonghan knows that she read it before he tilted it away from her. She looks up at him.

Their mother’s calling again, and Jeonghan looks up at the ceiling, blinking really hard.

“Do you want to talk to her?” Jeonghan asks.

“Okay.” Tzuyu holds out her hand, and Jeonghan hands her the phone. She clicks the green button, and a grainy video of her mother comes up. “Hello, Eomeoni.”

“There’s no need to be so formal with me, my baby.” Her mother puts her face closer to the screen. “How are you? Have you been eating well?”

“I’m ok.”

“Is your brother there?”

Tzuyu looks up at him, where he’s facing the refrigerator but still listening in. “Yes. Do you want to talk to him?”

“No. Can you ask him to let me talk to you alone?”

Tzuyu looks up at Jeonghan, who goes promptly into the bedroom without meeting her eyes. She knows he’s got his ear pressed against the door in there.

“Ok. He’s in the room.”

“Good.” Her mother says, looking too happy. “I have a surprise for you.”

Tzuyu frowns. “Is it a good surprise or a bad one?”

“It’s a good one, silly! You’re coming here to live with us!”

“In Canada?” Tzuyu asks, trying to remember where in the world Canada is. It’s where Justin Bieber is from, and maple syrup. “It’s cold there, right?”

“It’ll be pretty cold when you get here, but it’s not that cold the rest of the year.”

“When do we leave?”

“In three weeks. I’ll go home to pick you up-” Her mother stops. “Oh, did you say “we”? No, Tzuyu, it’s just you. Jeonghan will finish studying there.”

Tzuyu’s frown deepens. “There are med schools in Canada, aren’t there?”

“Yes, but Jeonghan will be going to one there. _You’re_ going to go to a nice school here, it’s a boarding school by a lake. It’s just like Harry Potter!”

“No.” Tzuyu says, flatly. “I want to stay at home.”

“This will be your home now.” Her mother waves a hand at the room behind her. The ceiling is three times as tall as Tzuyu, with a chandelier hanging from it. “Do you want to see your new house? Well, it’ll only be your house on the weekends…”

Tzuyu takes a deep breath, and says, “No.”

“What don’t you want, baby?”

“I’m not going.” Tzuyu says, knowing her word is final. She hangs up on her mom trying to tell her about the playground near their house.

Jeonghan opens the bedroom door. The two of them exchange the same emotionless look as Tzuyu hands him his phone back.

Then she hugs him around the waist, burying her face in his shirt.

 

Seungcheol and his parents are squished onto a loveseat, while his grandma sits on her rocking chair, aimlessly flipping through channels.

“I still don’t see why you have to make Cheollie drop out of college for me.” His grandma says suddenly. “I’m going to die anyway.”

“Don’t say that, Mama.” Seungcheol’s mother says, putting a hand on her arm.

“Cheollie, do you want to stay in school?”

Seungcheol’s father shoots him a death glare, and Seungcheol just doesn’t reply.

“We already talked about this, Mama.” His father says. “There’s nothing to discuss anymore. Your health comes first.”

“My health? I’m going to die soon anyway. Cheollie isn’t.” His grandma shrugs.

“I can get a job and go back to school after saving up,” Seungcheol cuts in, before his father, whose face is getting red, can say anything.

“Mr. Min works at a shipyard, maybe he can-” His mother offers, but his grandma cuts her off.

“Shipyard! Cheollie didn’t go to school to work at a _shipyard_!” She shouts. “If his grandfather were alive now, what would he say? He worked himself to death to send you to school so his grandchildren won’t have to work at a motherfucking shipyard!”

Seungcheol’s grandmother starts coughing, and doesn’t stop. Seungcheol rubs her back gently.

“It’s okay,” He assures her. “I don’t mind working.”

His grandma’s still short on breath, so she just shakes her head.

 

Seungcheol gets back to the boarding house around 4 in the morning a few days later. He’s trudging to his room when he sees some light leaking out under Jisoo’s door.

He knocks. “Jisoo?”

“Come in.”

Seungcheol gently opens the door to find Jisoo sitting at his laptop, with some official-looking paper open on it, and an open copy of a giant book in English beside him. He feels a little bit guilty about being such a bad student next to Jisoo, but he knows he has worse things to feel guilty about.

“Why are you still up? Is that due tomorrow?” Seungcheol checks his phone. “I mean today.”

“It’s due next semester.”

“Wow.” Seungcheol whistles. “You should probably get sleep, Jisoo, it can wait.”

“Ok.” Jisoo goes back to typing.

Seungcheol’s about to go out the door, when something dawns on him. He’s a genius.

“Hey Jisoo?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you help me study for my finals?” Seungcheol asks, and Jisoo stops typing. Jisoo probably has finals of his own. Why did he even ask? “I mean, if you’re not busy…”

“I’m not really busy, but your classes are all science and biology stuff, right?” Jisoo makes a face so bad Seungcheol sees it in the reflection on the window.

“Yes.”

“I can’t do that stuff. Why don’t you ask Jeonghan to help you?” Jisoo asks, turning to him. Does he know? Is he mad? Is he trying to reverse psychology Seungcheol into proving Jeonghan is a lying, cheating snake? Which, of course, Jeonghan isn’t. All of the cheating was Seungcheol’s fault. Jeonghan didn’t do anything wrong. Much.

“Are you okay with that?” Seungcheol asks, knowing that he took too long to respond and looks suspicious. Jisoo’s poker face is amazing.

“Uh, yeah? He might be busy with his own exams, though. You should ask him.” Jisoo says. “Do you have his number? No, wait, you still don’t…I’ll just get it for-”

“I’m sorry, Jisoo.” Seungcheol can’t help it once the words start tumbling out. “I didn’t mean to make out with Jeonghan but I kind of did and it’s all my fault, please don’t be angry with him.”

Jisoo’s quiet for a long time, and turns back to face his laptop, but he doesn’t type any more. His laptop screen died, and Seungcheol can see Jisoo just staring down at the keyboard. He knows Jisoo won’t get up and beat him up, but he’d rather get his ass kicked than have to lose his best friend.

“It’s _your_ fault?”

“Yes. Jeonghan didn’t do anything, I kissed him first.” Seungcheol pants out. It’s hard to breathe. “He still likes you, it’s just me messing everything up, Jisoo, don’t be angry with him. Please.”

Jisoo doesn’t say anything else, so Seungcheol makes his way for the door.

“Do you like Jeonghan?”

“I love him.” Seungcheol’s so scared that he can’t even come up with a lie. He should have thought of a good lie, but he started thinking about Jeonghan and his brain just folded in half and shat out nonsense. “But I won’t go near him anymore, I won’t even talk to him if you-”

“Good night, Seungcheol.”

Seungcheol can take a hint, and closes the door behind him after saying, “Good night, Jisoo.”

 

Nayoung wakes up to the smell of Minki’s cooking. That is, the smell of something burning. She runs out of her room, no bra on, and stumbles down the stairs to find Aron trying desperately to put out the burning stove.

Minki’s standing by, doing an anxious chicken dance.

“Out of the way.” Nayoung picks up a rug off the floor and smothers the oven.

Aron’s leaning against the wall, slightly pale but breathing again. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing. I guess we’re having takeout for breakfast, then?” Nayoung lifts the scorched rug to reveal the warped, blackened stove.

“It’s on me.” Minki says. “I’ll go out and get it.”

Aron looks at him like he just announced that he was going to multiply loaves and fishes from the refrigerator, but Nayoung figures it’s the least he can do after nearly killing everyone in the house.

After Minki’s McDonald’s breakfast, Nayoung watches TV. She’s just sitting in front of Jonghyun’s ancient TV while it’s on, but she’s not looking at it. She’s watching the other people in the house as they move around her. Dongho’s walking around in a shirt and tie but boxer shorts, because he just got out of a skype interview and was too lazy to change. She puts her feet up as Minhyun passes by with a broom, then puts them up again as Minhyun passes by with a mop. Aron’s complaining about something rotting in the refrigerator, but nobody minds him. Seungcheol’s walking around the boarding house aimlessly, keeping suspiciously clear of Jisoo’s room, which has been closed since the fire. Minki still feels really bad about the stove and tells Jonghyun he’ll replace it, but Jonghyun insists it’s his job as landlord to replace it. They argue for some time, then go in Jonghyun’s room for some time and rearrange the furniture, then go out to buy a new stove together.

She misses Pinky. She’s not too proud to say it. She’s just too proud to say that maybe Pinky doesn’t want her back.

The weather girl is letting her know that the week ahead is going to be a bit gloomy. Nayoung flops sideways onto the couch. The week before was gloomy. Any week without Pinky is gloomy.

She decides to bother Jisoo.

“Open up, bitch.” She pounds her fist into the door. “I feel like shit.”

“So do I, but I don’t bother everyone when I do.”

“Oh shit, what happened?” Nayoung asks, trying to talk directly into the door so the rest of the house doesn’t hear. She’s got an ear against the door, but she can’t hear Jisoo say anything else.

He opens the door. He’s still in pajamas. “Come in. You’ll never believe what I found out this morning.”

“Okay, clickbait. I’m baited.”

 

“Bye.” Jeonghan locks his phone, and puts it down on the table in front of him. It slides in between two textbooks and a sheaf of handouts.

He sits there for some time, staring at the words “pulmonary oedema” until they don’t make any more sense.

He’s never been dumped over the phone. He doesn’t feel bad about it, or the fact that he’s now got to go look for a new boyfriend to stress over. He’s just annoyed that he didn’t peg Jisoo as the kind of person who breaks up over the phone, with Nayoung whispering furiously in the background.

It was probably Nayoung’s idea. Jeonghan thought for a second that she saw their relationship wasn’t really helping either of them and was trying to help her friends, but then he realized she probably just wanted more people to be lonely with her.

That bitch.

Jeonghan’s still staring at the words “pulmonary oedema” when someone knocks on the door.

He opens the door a crack to find Seungcheol standing there, carrying a textbook that’s obviously not been used much. This is too convenient, he thinks. This is some kind of cruel hidden camera prank. They fucking orchestrated this shit. Was it Nayoung or Jisoo’s idea? Doesn’t matter. Two can play at that game.

“Hey.” Seungcheol waves weakly.

Jeonghan grabs him by the collar and kisses him so hard his lips go numb.

Seungcheol backs away, into the wall of the hallway. “Wait-”

“No.” Jeonghan pins him against the wall, kissing him again. He feels Seungcheol’s arms move, and he’s afraid he’s going to be pushed away when Seungcheol reaches down and grabs his ass. Two can play at that game. Jeonghan’s hands wander down Seungcheol’s chest, then slide around and grab _his_ ass.

“We should go inside.” Seungcheol says, pulling away from Jeonghan’s mouth for only a second.

“Mmkay.”

The doorknob to Mrs. Park’s apartment turns, and Seungcheol shoves Jeonghan into his apartment, slamming the door behind them.

“Does she not know you’re gay?” Jeonghan asks, catching his breath.

“I’m not gay.” Seungcheol says, and it comes so fast it looks like a reflex. “I just don’t want her to see me like that.”

“Like this?” Jeonghan laughs, pulling Seungcheol down onto the sofa. They exchange open-mouthed kisses, the older-than-Jeonghan sofa creaking as they grind against each other.

Jeonghan smiles as Seungcheol kisses him on the side of his mouth. Then he goes to his jaw, then behind his ear.

“I, uh,” Seungcheol whispers, his breath hot on Jeonghan’s neck. “I was wondering if you could…um…”

“Fuck you?” Jeonghan offers.

“No, uh, help me study for my finals.” Seungcheol blushes so hot Jeonghan feels it against his own skin.

“You sure have a weird way of asking for it.”

“Sorry.”

 

Seungcheol watches Jeonghan skim over a few chapters of the textbook. Other people skim like they’re just reading a few words and the chapter titles, but Jeonghan’s really reading. And fast. The only person who can read faster than him is Jisoo.

Who’s Jeonghan’s boyfriend, in case he forgets again.

“Wait here,” Jeonghan says. He goes into the bedroom and starts shuffling around, then comes back with two ring binders. “They’re a little dusty cause they’re from my freshman anatomy class, but they should still be readable.”

_Anatomy Reviewer._ Large gold script reads on the powder pink and blue binder cover. _Property of Yoon Jeonghan. Steal this and you die._ :) Seungcheol opens the binder to find lovingly rendered body parts in a rainbow of watercolor, with tabs and stickers labeling each part and their function. The muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons – everything is drawn in different colors.

“Wow.” Seungcheol flips through. It’s like a textbook, except much prettier and easy to understand. Like Jeonghan, except Jeonghan’s not that easy to understand. Neither is anatomy. “Can I borrow this for the week?”

“Sure.” Jeonghan looks up at the ceiling like he just thought of something. “But you have to read it here.”

“What?” Seungcheol gulps. He can’t be going to Jeonghan’s place every day. He’d die, or Jisoo would crack and kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to all my friends with really nice reviewers, y'all are the mvps my reviewers are usually a mess


	10. ONE WEEK OF PWP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joke joke JOOOKE Seungcheol is really studying

D-6:

 

Tzuyu doesn’t ask why Seungcheol-oppa’s in their house, wearing pajamas. She sees that he’s studying Jeonghan-oppa’s old reviewers really intensely, so she decides not to bother him. Jeonghan-oppa is sitting across him, making a new reviewer. She doesn’t bother him either.

Dinner is instant noodles and freezer mandu, and nobody says anything. Tzuyu’s itching to ask, because every ten minutes or so her brother will look up from his notes and gaze lovingly at Seungcheol’s furrowed brows. She’s only ever seen him look that way at a ribeye steak, and Seungcheol’s not a steak. He’s more of a burger.

She gives Jeonghan pointed looks, catching him almost every time he’s staring at Seungcheol. Jeonghan lifts his eyebrows, and Tzuyu lowers hers. She nods at Seungcheol, then looks back at her brother.

“I’m not dating Jisoo anymore.” Jeonghan says.

Tzuyu and Seungcheol frown harder. “What?”

 

D-5:

 

_“But I don’t do math.” Jisoo whines. He’s already said yes in his mind, but he doesn’t want to look too eager to do whatever Jeonghan asks him to do._

_“Please, it’s just one week.” Jeonghan begs. Jisoo likes the way he begs, with his nose still turned up like he’s trying to salvage what’s left of his pride. “I’ll give you double the pay.”_

_“Fine.” Jisoo agrees._

That was a few days ago, and today is Jisoo’s first day as Jeonghan’s replacement. The girls are all asking where Jeonghan-oppa is, and Jisoo’s tired of having to explain that Jeonghan is studying for his final exams.

“Why aren’t _you_ studying for your final exams?” The little bitch in a boy cut asks. Jeongyeon, Jisoo guesses.

“Because I already did.” Jisoo bitches right back at her. He feels a tugging on his sleeve.

“Jisoo-oppa?”

“Yeah?” He turns to find the cutest gradeschooler he has ever seen in his life. Who is he kidding. She just looks like Seungcheol. She’s probably his cousin.

“You study English books, right?”

“Western literature, yeah.” Jisoo frowns at himself.

“Can you help me with my book report?” Small Female Seungcheol asks. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jisoo sees the one with the mole on her nose scooting towards them to listen in. She probably has the same book report.

“What’s the book?” Jisoo asks.

“The Little Prince.” Jihyo says, putting the book on the table. Jisoo looks at it like an old friend. He’s got this. He’s more than got this. Antoine de Saint Exup- _easy_.

 

D-4:

“Hey Nayoung, someone’s here to see you.” Jonghyun says, knocking on Nayoung’s door.

“She’s hot.” Minki adds.

Nayoung scrambles to get a hoodie over her braless self and flies out the door, slamming it into Minki’s face.

“BITCH!”

She leaps down the stairs to find Pinky sitting on the couch, but not leaning back like she doesn’t trust it with her expensive white tennis shirt. Her hands are folded in her lap, like she doesn’t want to get her expensive manicure dirty. She’s looking around the room in thinly veiled disgust, wrinkling her nose at the uninhabitable smell.

“You dyed your hair.” Nayoung says, standing in the doorway.

“Oh, this.” Pinky touches her jet-black hair. “Mom and dad made me change it for a gala.”

“I like the pink better.” Nayoung says. “So are your parents back for good?”

“No, they’re just stopping by to check on the business.” Pinky drums her hands on her lap.

Nayoung watches her wrinkle her nose some more around the house, and it’s quiet till they both speak at the same time.

“How do you live-” Pinky starts.

“How are you do-” Nayoung starts.

“No, you go ahead.” They both say at once.

Nayoung sighs as she leans on the doorway. “Do I have to call you Blacky now?”

“No. I like being called Pinky.” Pinky frowns.

“Well I like being called baby.” Nayoung says, cringing at herself.

Pinky blinks up at her with her saucer eyes.

Nayoung rolls her eyes. “I like it when _you_ call _me_ baby, I miss you, let’s get back together- Do I have to spell it out?”

“We never broke up…” Pinky pouts. “… _baby_.”

Nayoung rolls her eyes again as she steps forward and kisses Pinky right on the expensive lipstick. Or lip tint. Whatever.

 

D-3:

 

Jihyo squints out the crack she and Tzuyu left in the bedroom door to spy on Jeonghan-oppa and Seungcheol-oppa.

“What are they doing now?” Tzuyu asks.

“Still studying. Boring.” Jihyo sighs. “Let’s just play, I really don’t think they’re going to kiss. Ever.”

“But I _did_ see them!” Tzuyu whispers loudy. “They were!”

“Maybe it was an optical illusion. You know, when you think you see something but your eyes are just playing tricks-”

“I know what an optical illusion is.” Tzuyu grumbles.

“Let’s just play with your dolls.” Jihyo says soothingly, trying to avoid another Tzuyu meltdown. She’s been so upset the past few days, and Jihyo’s tried to get her to say what’s wrong but Tzuyu can’t take a hint.

“We can’t. My dolls are already packed away.” Tzuyu says.

Jihyo frowns. “Why? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Canada to live with my mom and dad.” Tzuyu says, but she doesn’t sound happy or sad.

“For winter break?” Jihyo asks.

“Forever.” Tzuyu says, in the same flat voice, but her eyes are getting watery.

Jihyo doesn’t understand.

“What do you mean forever?” Jihyo asks. “You’re not coming back?”

Tzuyu shakes her head, chewing on her lip to stop herself from crying.

Jihyo doesn’t do that. She lets the tears and snot run down her face, hiccupping. Tzuyu’s more than a best friend, she’s like her little sister. She can’t imagine living without her little sister.

“What about Jeonghan-oppa? Is he going too?” Jihyo asks.

Tzuyu shakes her head, and Jihyo lets herself go even more. She cries out loud, but it still hurts in her chest.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jeonghan-oppa asks, opening the door gently.

“Make her stay!” Jihyo doesn’t mean to shout at him, but she feels really bad and shouting makes it hurt a little less. “Don’t let her leave!”

“There’s nothing I can do, Jihyo.” Jeonghan-oppa crouches next to Jihyo. He puts an arm around her, and Jihyo cries into his sweater, blowing her nose into it. “Did you just put snot in my sweater?”

“Yes.” Jihyo sniffles.

Jeonghan laughs and combs her hair with his fingers. “You’re so gross, like your cousin.”

“Hey!” Seungcheol protests from the kitchen table.

 

D-2:

 

Jeonghan switches the lights off and closes the bedroom door gently. He turns back to Seungcheol, who’s got his eyes closed as he recites the muscle insertion table again and again.

Jeonghan steps quietly past him and pours two cups of coffee.

“Cheol,” he says softly.

Seungcheol looks up at him. “Yeah?”

“Coffee.” Jeonghan hands him the mug. “How far along have you gotten?”

“Three left.” Seungcheol tips the coffee into his mouth, then puts the empty mug on the table. Jeonghan’s sure that’s not good for him. He’s too extra about everything.

“Hey, take it easy.” Jeonghan puts a hand on Seungcheol’s arm. It’s a win-win situation.

“I can’t take it easy, I need to get really high grades this semester.” Seungcheol goes back to the reviewer in front of it, frowning at it.

“Just…” Jeonghan doesn’t know what to say. He feels that way all the time, but he’s on scholarship and he’s _Jeonghan_. If he’s not stressed over his grades then he’s dead. Seungcheol isn’t like that. Or at least, he didn’t seem to be before this week. “Don’t burn yourself out. There’s still next semester to worry about.”

Borderline good advice.

“There is no next semester.” Seungcheol says gravely, and Jeonghan laughs.

“It might feel like that now, but once you’re out of hell week-”

“I’m dropping out of school.”

Jeonghan puts his coffee down. “Why?” He didn’t mean to sound as angry as he did.

“We can’t afford it.” Seungcheol’s still staring at the reviewer, but not reading it. “Grandma’s operation is going to be expensive. Therapy after is going to be expensive. Nothing left for me.”

Jeonghan wishes he could skip med school and be a surgeon then and there. He would give Seungcheol’s grandma that he’s never even met the surgery for free. He’d cover the therapy costs, and any other debt their family might be in. He’d even pay Seungcheol’s tuition, if it came to that.

He doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything, but he knows Seungcheol’s not studying anymore.

Jeonghan reaches over and closes the binder. “That’s enough studying for one night.”

“But I still-”

“You should sleep.”

“I can sleep after.” Seungcheol takes the binder from him.

“No, after this you’re going to get a job. Maybe two jobs. I know you, you’re not gonna lie around and do nothing without school.” Jeonghan says, pulling the binder back.

“You don’t need to feel bad for me.” Seungcheol’s underbite is jutting out. “I’m not made for all this studying and shit.”

“What did I tell you about calling yourself stupid?”

“You didn’t.” Seungcheol’s mouth is starting to curl into a smile, and Jeonghan backs away. “You just kissed me.”

Jeonghan’s about to protest that he remembers last summer differently when Seungcheol stands up to kiss him. Jeonghan tries to grab Seungcheol and pull him closer for a little more, but Seungcheol pulls away.

“No.” Seungcheol says, keeping Jeonghan an arm’s length away.

“What do you mean ‘ _no’_?” Jeonghan asks, sounding more desperate than he means to. Let’s face it, he always sounds desperate when Seungcheol is involved.

“No anything till after exams.” Seungcheol says, crossing his arms into an X.

“Are you serious?” Jeonghan knows he looks pretty crazy right now, but he doesn’t care. He needs to touch Seungcheol. His fingers are literally starting to itch from just staring at him all day. “You come in my damn house, take my damn reviewers, eat my damn food- I can’t _believe_ -!”

Seungcheol places a quick peck on Jeonghan’s cheek, shutting him up. “That’s the last one, okay?”

 

D-1:

 

Seungcheol is wondering how spoiled the girls in that tutoring center must be, as he answers the third mock exam Jeonghan’s made for him. Jeonghan just knows everything, and he’s so good at explaining everything.

Their kids are going to be so smart.

“Are you done?” Jeonghan asks, checking the time on his phone.

“Nope.”

“Hurry up, they’re not going to give you forever to answer the fucking exam.”

Seungcheol smiles at Jeonghan, whose mouth has been pulled into a pout since he told him he didn’t want any…anything until after he finished his exams. He didn’t want to be distracted, but this bitter, pouty Jeonghan is the worst. Seungcheol loves it.

Seungcheol feels a hand on his thigh. He looks up at Jeonghan, who’s going through his notes with a blank face. Seungcheol looks back at his mock exam and shakes the hand off, hearing Jeonghan grumble.

“I better get the best blowjob of my entire life after this.” He says, and Seungcheol kicks him in the shin. Tzuyu’s in the bedroom sorting her clothes, but the door’s partly open.

“You better fuck me till I can’t walk is all I’m saying,” Jeonghan says in a quiet singsong voice, staring at his notes.

“I’ll try.” Seungcheol grins at him.

Jeonghan blushes. “Don’t try, just do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this D-X format is for lazy people, such as myself


	11. D-0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reliable vocal of exo
> 
> HAHAHshh i decided to upload the last two chapters at once because this one seems too short without the last one

The car is quiet as Jeonghan drives Seungcheol to his final final exam, which just so happens to be anatomy. Jisoo, Nayoung, and Tzuyu are sitting in the back but they don’t say anything.

“Call me when you’re done.” Jeonghan tells Seungcheol as he rolls up to Seungcheol’s college’s driveway.

“You _do_ have his number now, right?” Jisoo asks, and Jeonghan shoots him a death glare in the rearview mirror while Nayoung reaches over Tzuyu to smack Jisoo on the back of his head.

“Just call me.” Jeonghan says.

“I will.” Seungcheol waves at everyone in the back. “See you guys later.”

“See ya.”

“Bye.”

Jeonghan turns to the back. “Who wants to ride shotgun?”

“Me.” Jisoo says.

“Not you.” Jeonghan glares at him. “Nayoung it is, then.”

“Yay,” Nayoung says, clapping her hands sarcastically.

Jeonghan drives Nayoung to her new apartment, which she shares with Pinky. It’s got exactly one bedrooms instead of five, and a balcony big enough for one potted plant instead of an entire roof deck, but the girls seem to be happy. For some reason. If Jeonghan had Pinky’s old apartment, he would never have let it go.

“…So if Pinky’s paying all the rent, then what-?” Jisoo starts but Nayoung says,

“We’re halving it.”

“Where did you get the money?” Jeonghan asks.

“Why don’t you stupid gays have any faith in me?” Nayoung goes.

“What’s wrong with gays?” Tzuyu asks defensively. Jeonghan’s ice cold heart defrosts a little.

“Lots of things, Tzuyu sweetie, just ask them.” Nayoung says.

“You didn’t answer.” Jisoo says. “Where are you getting the money? Have you finally started selling your-”

“Jisoo!” Jeonghan snaps, stomping on the brakes.

“-delicious chocolate brownies.” Jisoo finishes.

“I got a job at Pinky’s dad’s company.” Nayoung beams.

There’s a moment of silence before Jeonghan says, “Does he know…”

“That I’m dating his daughter? Duh, no. He thinks I’m Pinky’s poor best friend,” Nayoung shrugs. “Which isn’t far from the truth.”

“I need to get myself a Sugar Dad-in-Law.” Jisoo mutters.

“I thought you were taking my job at the tutoring center?” Jeonghan asks.

Tzuyu frowns. “You’re not going back?”

“No, I only worked there so I could keep an eye on you.” Jeonghan says, pulling the car over in front of Nayoung’s new place. Sure enough, Pinky’s waving from a fourth story window. Disgusting.

“Bye stupid gays!” Nayoung says. She bends down to hug Tzuyu. “You be a good girl in Canada and fight all the white kids, ok?”

“Nayoung.” Jeonghan warns.

“I’m kidding! Call your brother, but not at night.” Nayoung hugs Tzuyu again, shooting a wink in Jeonghan’s direction. “He’ll be busy.”

“Get out of my car, Nayoung.”

“I love you too.” She blows a kiss before slamming the door and running up four flights of stairs to her girlfriend.

Jeonghan waits for Jisoo to strap himself into the passenger’s seat before speeding off towards the main avenue.

“Why are you not going back to the tutoring center?” Tzuyu asks. She could be persistent, but still nothing compared to Jeonghan.

“Because I’m going to be busy studying.”

“But that’s only at night. Tutoring is in the afternoon.” Tzuyu says.

“I’m going to have to study in the afternoons too starting next year, Tzuyu. I’ll be studying all the time.”

“That sucks.” Jisoo and Tzuyu say at once.

“You’re going to be studying a lot too.” Jisoo looks back at Tzuyu. “People in Canada speak really good English.”

“I thought you lived in America for a few years.” Jeonghan says.

“Same thing. Everyone speaks English, and it’s not the English that’s easy to understand.”

“Don’t scare her.”

“I’m not scaring her-”

“I’m not scared.” Tzuyu says, folding her arms. She switches to English to say, “ _My English is excellent_.”

“Well damn,” Jisoo laughs. He looks at Jeonghan. “She’ll be fine.”

“Of course she’ll be fine.” Jeonghan says. Or else I’ll go and burn the entire Canada to the ground.

“Oop, this is me.” Jisoo says suddenly, and Jeonghan hits the brakes.

“I thought you meant the chicken place two streets down.” Jeonghan grumbles.

“Nah, it’s this one.” Jisoo says. He opens his arms to hug Tzuyu, and she complies, but she’s looking at Jeonghan the whole time like, _Who does this guy think he is, hugging me after breaking up with my brother over the phone?_

“I might not see you anymore before you leave, so bye. I’m sorry for hogging your oppa’s time,” Jisoo tells Tzuyu. “Make friends with the other Asians. They’re the only ones you can trust.”

“Could you stop with the anti-white bullshit?” Jeonghan goes.

“Language,” Jisoo wags a finger at him, then slams the door. Jeonghan’s seething. His friends love to slam the doors on his car like they don’t know how hard he worked to get this damn car.

Jeonghan waits awhile, pulled up against the curb, until he sees Jisoo’s date come down the sidewalk, waving. He was the one who told Jisoo to have a lunch first date, just so they could avoid accidentally sleeping with each other as much as possible. Everyone knows how bad things turn out when that happens.

 

Jeonghan takes Tzuyu to the main street, where they walk around hand in hand until she finds an ice cream place. It’s nearly the dead of winter, but Tzuyu wants ice cream. She just points at it, and Jeonghan knows that she knows that he’s going to get it for her. She’s only going to be _this_ spoiled for the few days before she leaves, so she’s making the most of it. Truly his sister.

When they get inside, the ice cream shop is a mess of shouting, jumping kids. There are balloons and streamers and a large HAPPY CHRISTMAS banner hanging from the ceiling.

“Oh, sorry, excuse us,” Jeonghan mutters, turning Tzuyu around to leave the party they’d walked into.

“Jeonghan-hyung?”

He turns around, and finds a boy with shaggy black hair smiling at him.

“Mingyu?” Jeonghan asks. Mingyu’s too tall now, but he doesn’t show any signs of stopping. He need to cut his bangs, though.

“Hey, guys, it’s Jeonghan-hyung!” Mingyu shouts, and all the kids look away from their ice cream for a minute.

“JEONGHAN-HYUUUUNG!” Soonyoung jumps to hug him, and Tzuyu backs away as a horde of kids squish Jeonghan in a hug.

“What are all of you guys doing here?” Jeonghan asks. Almost all of the campers are there, boys and girls included.

“This is a meeting for us girl scouts.” Eunwoo says.

“And boy scouts.” Seungkwan adds with a hint of annoyance. “Girl and boy scouts.”

Jeonghan’s not sure the scout thing works that way, but he’s not about to fact-check them because they all look so happy.

“GET JEONGHAN-OPPA ICE CREAM!” Sungyeon screams.

“No thanks, I-” Jeonghan puts his hands up to say no, but Seokmin’s already handed him a huge cup of soft serve. He hands it Tzuyu. “Here, I don’t want any.”

Tzuyu takes a seat next to Siyeon and eats her free ice cream happily.

“I made the decorations.” Mingyu beams.

“They’re really good.” Jeonghan says, though people usually write Merry Christmas instead of Happy Christmas.

“Thanks, hyung.”

Jun and Minghao come up to tap Jeonghan on the shoulder. “We were wondering if you could be a troop leader for us.” Jun says.

“You mean scoutmaster?”

“Whatever.” Minghao says.

“Is this even a legit troop?” Jeonghan can’t help but ask.

“No.” Both boys answer.

“So are you in?” Jun asks.

Jeonghan looks around. Kyla’s loading gummy bears onto her ice cream a foot high while Yuha and Hansol cheer her on. Seokmin’s screaming something and Eunwoo is screaming back. Rena’s taking bites out of Wonwoo’s ice cream while he’s busy arguing with Kyulkyung about dinosaurs being real (They are). It really hurts him, but he says, “No, I can’t. Sorry.”

“It’s cool, man.” Jun says, clapping Jeonghan on the back.

“You’ll stay for the party, though, right?” Minghao asks.

Jeonghan checks his phone. Seungcheol hasn’t called yet, so he shrugs. “Yeah.”

 

Jeonghan’s at the airport when Seungcheol’s final grades come in a few days later.

“Is it good?” Jeonghan asks, pinning his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he lifts Tzuyu’s suitcase onto a cart.

“Super good.”

“Give me numbers, you’re not in preschool, grades have numbers.” Jeonghan mutters into his phone. His mom shoots him a look as if she’s about to ask who he’s talking to, but then she realizes she doesn’t actually care.

“You don’t have anything sharp in your pockets?” She asks Tzuyu, patting her daughter’s coat down gently.

“No.”

“Numbers.” Jeonghan demands.

“88 over 100.” Seungcheol’s voice is dripping with pride. Jeonghan doesn’t hide his smile. “90%.”

Jeonghan grimaces. “I’m pretty sure that 88 over 100 isn’t-”

“Professor Ailee adjusted the percentage.”

“So you’re on a first-name basis with your professor now?” Jeonghan asks, tossing his mother’s suitcase onto the cart unceremoniously. She says something to him, but he’s not listening.

“Yeah, she says she’s gonna buy me a beer.”

“So you’re not coming home tonight?” Jeonghan asks, before realizing he said ‘home’. My place. He meant his house.

“Why would I want a beer when I can have the entire crate of beer in your refrigerator?”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes as his mother tells him to push the cart because her back aches from all the traveling. She tries to take Tzuyu’s hand, but Tzuyu squirms away and holds Jeonghan’s arm instead.

“Here I was thinking you wanted me.” Jeonghan says, lowering his voice.

“Of course I want you. When I get home I’m gonna-”

“Hi Seungcheol-oppa!” Tzuyu says directly into the phone.

“O- Oh, hi Tzuyu! Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Tzuyu says.

“I’m going to miss you.” Seungcheol-oppa sounds like he’s about to cry. Jeonghan half wants to roll his eyes and half wants to jump Seungcheol.

“I’m going to miss you too.” Tzuyu says, putting her face close to the phone. “Please take care of Jeonghan-oppa. He doesn’t eat or sleep unless you tell him to.”

“I do _not_.” Jeonghan protests.

“I will.” Seungcheol says. “Take care, Tzuyu!”

“Bye-bye Seungcheol-oppa,” Tzuyu says into the phone, then she looks up at Jeonghan as if to say that she’s done.

“Byeee!” Seungcheol’s shout echoes in the hallway a little, and their mother snaps at Jeonghan not to make so much noise.

“I’ve going to go now,” Jeonghan says. “I’ll see you later, Cheol.”

“Okay. I love you.”

Jeonghan nearly drops his phone. He knows he’s taking too long to reply to Seungcheol, but he checks to see if his mother’s looking, and she doesn’t seem to care. Tzuyu shoots him an impatient look, then nods at the phone.

“I love you too, Cheol.” Jeonghan whispers into the phone. Tzuyu smiles and leans her head on his arm.


	12. EPILOGUE: 5 Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im such a slut for slightly delayed epilogues,,, also, implied smut warning

It’s dark outside the window when Seungcheol finally gets a break to look outside, but the city lights are too bright for him to see the stars. Especially that damned billboard across the street.

“Hey Seungcheol, can you ask that last guy to leave?” One of the other baristas says, cracking her neck sleepily.

“Okay.” Seungcheol makes his way back into the café, through the kitchen, and past the bar. Pretty U Café is small and full of secondhand furniture repainted in pastel colors, and at this time in the early morning most of the chairs are turned over on the tables, except one.

“Hey,” Seungcheol says, chin in his hands, his elbows propped on a heavily-highlighted textbook. Gray’s Anatomy, like the show.

“What do you want?”

“We’re closing. You have to leave.”

“Then that means you’re leaving too.” Jeonghan looks up from his notes. He pushes Seungcheol’s glasses up. “Why do you always wear those so low, don’t you know they won’t work if you don’t-”

“Wear them properly, yeah.” Seungcheol adjusts his glasses. “Let’s go?”

 

Jeonghan’s so sleepy that he lets Seungcheol practically carry him up to his apartment. Their apartment. Whatever.

Seungcheol’s also pretty sleepy, because he accidentally knocks Jeonghan’s head into the door to his aunt’s apartment. His aunt’s definitely asleep at this time, but Jihyo might still be talking to her friends under the covers, like a typical fourteen-year-old.

Jeonghan fumbles with the keys for some time. When he gets the door open, he turns to Seungcheol, who picks him up under his thighs and carries him. Jeonghan wraps his legs around Seungcheol’s waist almost instinctively.

He’s still sleepy, but not so sleepy that he can’t enjoy Seungcheol’s open mouthed kisses on his neck.

“Let me lock the door.” Jeonghan says.

“Okay.” Seungcheol spins him around, still carrying him, and takes a few steps to let Jeonghan clumsily close all the locks. “Done?”

“There’s still one but whatever.” Jeonghan taps his neck impatiently, and Seungcheol laughs before kissing him there again. “Put me on the couch.”

“Someone’s bossy today.” Seungcheol says, gently lowering Jeonghan onto the couch. “What else do you want, sir?”

“Fuck me so hard I can’t walk tomorrow.” Jeonghan says.

“You know,” Seungcheol says, undoing Jeonghan’s belt. “You always say that, but you can always walk the next day no matter what I do.”

“It’s an expression.” Jeonghan says, shoving Seungcheol’s hands off and tearing his jeans off himself. “Besides, I always have to go to school the next day so I-”

He stops, because Seungcheol’s just planted a kiss on his inner thigh.

“No, no, I want you to fuck me, how hard is that to understand?” Jeonghan waves Seungcheol’s face away from his thighs.

“I was getting there.” Seungcheol says.

“I don’t have time for your bullshit, I’m sleepy.” Jeonghan mutters.

“Go to sleep, then.” Seungcheol gets up and walks away.

Jeonghan folds his arms, still lying on the couch with no pants on. Seungcheol’s making him bring out the big guns.

“But _Cheol_ ,” Jeonghan whines, drawing out that last L. “I _really_ want you-”

Seungcheol is on top of him again before he can finish talking. Jeonghan smiles as he helps Seungcheol out of his clothes.

 

Jeonghan wakes up sweating a little, because Seungcheol is so warm against his bare back. He nuzzles his head backward, but Seungcheol, who’s actually awake, says, “Ew. Hair.”

“Ew yourself. You didn’t shower, did you?” Jeonghan says, pretending to try to crawl out of Seungcheol’s arms. It’s not like he actually can. Seungcheol’s hugs are a prison. And he’s extra sticky this morning.

“No.” He feels Seungcheol smile into his hair.

“Gross.” Jeonghan reaches for his phone on the floor next to the futon. He checks the time. He’s still good.

> _1 new message from Tzuyu._

_Do I stay with you or Mrs. Park? I don’t want to have to watch you and Seungcheol-oppa being n a s t y_.

Jeonghan rolls his eyes before typing, _Don’t fucking bother Mrs. Park, she has enough problems. We have an extra bed._

Tzuyu replies, _WE have an extra bed. N a s t y._

Jeonghan types, _If you don’t stop being a little bitch I’m going to throw out your bed and you’re going to have to sleep between me and Seungcheol._

Tzuyu says, _Hell no._

“Who’s that?” Seungcheol mumbles into Jeonghan’s hair.

“Tzuyu.”

“Oh? When’s she coming here? Tell her I said hi and I miss her and-”

“One at a time.” Jeonghan grumbles, and Seungcheol smiles as he pulls Jeonghan towards him, until their bodies are flush against each other.

> J: _When are you arriving? Seungcheol says hi._
> 
> T: _Tomorrow at like noon? I’m at the airport now. Omg tell him I said hi_

“She says hi,” Jeonghan says flatly.

> J: _Ok. Cheol and I will pick you up._
> 
> T: _Ok._
> 
> T: _Pls don’t throw my bed out_.
> 
> J: _Of course I won’t. Only I can sleep with Seungcheol._
> 
> T: _Ugh yuck gross stop pls._

Jeonghan laughs, shaking himself and Seungcheol.

Seungcheol kisses the nape of Jeonghan’s neck. “What are we gonna do when she gets here?”

“Sleep with clothes on, obviously.”

“No I meant _do_. For fun.”

“I don’t know, we’ll just take her around.” Jeonghan shrugs into Seungcheol’s chest.

“We could go camping.”

Jeonghan doesn’t even take a half second to reply, “I hate camping.”

Seungcheol pouts into Jeonghan’s neck. “But you loved that time at summer camp.”

“I loved you, you fucking idiot, not camping.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ADVANCED MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! Lol I've been 10000% CHRISTMAS spirit since September
> 
>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
>  
> 
> I love you all and also I love Jeongcheol and hope they have happy holidays along with the rest of Seventeen, and Pristin, and everyone <3
> 
>  
> 
> [ Feel free to scream at me on twitter <3 <3 <3 ](https://twitter.com/halp_rice)


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